Recycle Bin
by XBrokenxDollsX
Summary: Various oneshots and drabbles that would otherwise collect dust on Kitty's computer. Various characters, pairings and ratings.
1. Chapter 1

**Title -** Big Sister is Here

 **Characters -** Cana Alberona and Juvia Lockser

 **Genre -** Family/Friendship, BROTP

 **Rating -** K+

 **Prompt -** It wasn't how Cana was planning her Saturday night, but she couldn't leave her favorite Water Mage defenseless and sick like that.

=xxx=

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She wasn't even close to finishing her large glass of wine when she heard someone hammering on her door and jiggling the doorknob like a madman. Cana Alberona's schedule for a Saturday night was on a consistent timespan:

8 o'clock: Finish the last of the week's wine before heading out.

9 o'clock: Start bar hopping and run up Gildarts' tab anonymously (it wasn't her being a bad daughter, really, but it was funny seeing his face when the bill is delivered to him at the Guild).

11 o'clock: Find some nice booty to smack on the dancefloor!

...and the rest can be a blur in general, but whatever.

It wasn't even five minute to eight when the attack occurred on her door, nearly making Cana choke on her drink and slam the glass on the kitchen table. Dressed in a skimpy black top and sweatpants, Cana was going to use the last five minutes to dress herself properly for a bar before leaving, but there was a little bump in the road.

Going to the door and fully ready to have a bitch fit to whoever was trying to kill her door, Cana unlocked the deadbolt and knob before swinging it open. The result was having a familiar blue head in a fuzzy hat drop straight into her cleavage, making the brunette woman blink.

"Juvia..?" Cana raised a brow and looking down to the boiling face smushed against her breasts. Poor Juvia must have not expected to fall onto her like that, but Cana didn't mind it since it was just the little innocent Juvia. However, she was expecting Juvia to scream at the sudden action, but it seemed that she must have been tired from her job.

The blue haired Mage slowly peeled her face off of Cana's chest and stood up, surprising the nearly-drunk woman to see how pale the Water Mage's face was; she was paler than usual, yes, but the tip of her nose and cheekbones were stained dark pink. Her cute, doe-like eyes were glazed over and drooping and her head rocked a little as she regained balance.

Juvia has a backpack over her shoulder and her normal attire on, reminding Cana that she had went on a two week long job. However, the difference was that she wasn't her usual chipper self that Cana would usually see whenever they crossed paths inside Fairy Hills. Cana was used to hearing Juvia cheer 'I'm home!' before unlocking her apartment door.

"Oh…" Juvia's voice came out raspy and cracked. "This isn't...Juvia's apartment."

"No, it's not," Cana responded slowly. "This is _Cana's_ apartment."

"Cana… Oh, Cana-san!" the Water Mage gasped in sudden shock, making the brunette flinch at the croaking sound she made. "Juvia is so, so _sorry!_ Juvia was trying to...open her door, see?" Juvia held up her apartment key that had a little keychain of Happy, Pantherlily and Carla that she purchased from Fairy Tail's Gift Shop. Why did they open a gift shop again? Her brown eyes stared sadly to the keys, her lip pouting like a cute little child. "But...Juvia's key wasn't working on the door, because it was really Cana's door. Juvia is sorry…"

Then, out of nowhere, tears swelled in Juvia's brown eyes and it freaked Cana out. It was obvious that her nose was clogging with boogers as she hugged her keys to her chest. "Joobia di'n mean tah botha Ca'a-saaan!"

Cana stiffened and waved her hands in front of her. "No no, don't cry, Juvia!" she tried quickly, gently grasping her shoulders and shaking her a little - just trying to get her senses back in order. A crying Juvia always ended with a horrible storm or an angry Gray, and Cana really didn't want to have to deal with a pissy Fullbuster. "It's okay, Juvia, I promise! I wasn't doing anything at the moment, okay? Don't cry."

"Joobia sowwy," Juvia gurgled and limped backwards in Cana's hold. For whatever reason, the blue haired woman moved towards the other wall - where her apartment was - and pressed herself against the door, her knees wobbling as she slid down. Her movements were sluggish and drunk-like, making Cana feel tested about her own ability to walk in a zigzag line. "Diz ish Joobia's home! Wah 'ere!"

"Uh...Juvia, babe," Cana frowned as she closed her apartment door (her keys were in her sweatpant pocket). Getting closer to the little mess on the other side of the hallway, Cana knelt down to Juvia and pulled her back off her door, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Are you sick?"

"Joobia," she started, still congested in the face, "cah dow wiff somethin' on 'er way baghk. Joobia tried tah eat somethin' on dah train, buh Joobia went _blegh!"_

"You got a fever, babe," Cana concluded, feeling her face on fire. Cana sighed and removed her hand from Juvia's forehead. "Where's your boyfriend, huh? Or Gajeel? This was a solo job, right?"

"Gray-sa'a ish on a jub wiff Nashu an everyone," Juvia sniffed as she clawed her way back to her door, trying to fit the key into the lock. As much as it was a silly sight to see Juvia half laying against her door, Cana felt sorry at how out of it she was. "Ga'eel ish on a jub too."

Sighing, Cana thought over her plan for the night. All while Juvia was mumbling to herself on random things that Cana could really care less for (Juvia doesn't remember how the jellyfish made it back into the tank. Juvia thinks she has lost her extra pair of socks), she decided that going out was probably not the best idea at the time to go out; most of Fairy Hill's ladies were out on the town or out for jobs, Cana knew for sure, and Juvia has already cleared it up to her that she was unable to really take care of herself. Seeing the blue haired Mage finally unlock the door and open it, Cana helped her to her feet and led her inside her warm home. Once Juvia recognized where she was, the Water Mage plopped on the hardwood floor of her entryway and slumped her bag off her shoulders. She then proceeded to take off her shoes.

"Joobia's home ish _niiice_ ," she hummed cheekly, yanking a boot off like a little kid. Tilting her head up towards Cana, who was still standing, Juvia smiled drunkenly her way. "Ca'a ish so nice to Joobia. Fank ew for takin' Joobia home! Gonna sleep now."

The Water Mage then sprawled on top of her bag, one boot still on her foot and hat lopsided atop of her messy hair. Cana frowned deeper and closed the door behind her, then kneeling down and forcing Juvia to sit back up. "Not here, you goofball. You have a fever, you know. You shouldn't be sleeping on the floor like that."

"Joobia fine."

"Not on my watch, missy," Cana smirked as she pulled the ill woman back to her feet. "First, we're gonna get you cleaned up because you look horrible."

"Owwy Gray-sama can be in showah wiff Joobia!" the young Mage exclaimed with tears in her eyes, making Cana snort a laugh at how open she was about her and Gray's relationship. "Ca'a dat a no-no!"

"Not a shower, then, for _Gray-sama's_ sake," Cana told her softly, making the tears stop from spilling from Juvia's brown eyes. "There we go, babe. No shower, but at least use a rag to wash the sweat off of you. You can sit on the toilet so you won't get dizzy, m'kay? Will that work for you? I promise it will make you feel a lot better."

"Yeh," Juvia pouted and gave her a curt nod. Cana chuckled and removed the hat from her head, setting it on top of her bag and began leading her towards the bathroom. Juvia looked to her hat and bag sadly but let Cana guide her away.

"We'll get your stuff later, Juvia. Don't worry," Cana assured her gently as she flipped the bathroom light on and got her to sit down on the toilet. Juvia remained still on the spot as Cana started taking off her winter-like apparel, leaving her in her underwear and bra. "Good babe, Juvia. I'm gonna use normal water, to try and regulate your temperature. You got a nasty fever."

"Ca'a doshn't haff to…" Juvia sniffled tiredly, watching as the brunette woman turn on her sink to boiling hot, letting the steam rise into the bathroom. The sick lady blinked in confusion when Cana went over to the bathtub and used the faucet as well, grabbing a clean rag to soak it in lukewarm water.

"Steam is to help clear your nose," Cana explained thoroughly, ringing out the cloth before gently grasping Juvia's face. "Face first to clear up that complexion of yours. You know, you look very silly with your face like that."

"Mm?" Juvia sniffled, inhaling the steam from the sink and letting her eyes drift close when Cana gently rubbed the rag against her sweaty forehead.

Cana grinned at her behavior and continued to wash Juvia's face with the utmost care. Juvia's face slowly becoming limp in Cana's hold. "Just relax, Juvia."

=xxx=

Cana dug in Juvia's dressers to find her comfortable pajamas: a t-shirt that obviously belonged to Gray and purple soft shorts and knitted socks that went up to Juvia's knees, which resulted the Water Mage looking super cute even though she still had her fever. Cana brushed Juvia's hair up into a bun to keep it out of her face or sticking to her neck, which was quite entertaining for the brunette to play with her friend's hair like that and the result of Juvia becoming cheeky and happy at the new do.

Cana had just settled Juvia on her bed and used the remote to turn on her small TV, flipping it to a channel she knew Juvia would be distracted with. The sick woman didn't go under her covers yet, claiming she was still too hot to be under blankets. Cana didn't bother to argue with her, as long as she was comfortable. "Do you have any food in your fridge, Juvia?"

"Why?" Juvia responded, her sinus sounding more clear after breathing the steam. She still looked dazed in the eyes and sleepy, hugging her legs to her chest in the pile of pillows and plushies as she peeked to Cana waltzing towards her combined kitchen.

"You gotta eat something if you wanna feel better," the brunette sang as she began digging in the fridge, only to find bottled water, box of butter and a carton of eggs.

"Juvia doesn't have food for Cana-san, though," Juvia pouted. "And Juvia's tummy won't be nice to her…"

"Found bread! And it's good for another few weeks, too!" Cana ignored Juvia as she grabbed the loaf of bread from one of the cabinets. "I saw butter in your fridge, too, so that will be a little bit better to take in."

"But Juvia's tummy…"

"Toast is easy on your stomach, if it's upset," Cana said as she placed two sliced into Juvia's toaster. "You will need to drink lots of water too, even though you always say you're made of it."

Juvia let out a loud sigh and buried her face into her knees. "But Juvia _is_ made of water!"

"Well, you're gonna need more, babe!"

Once Cana made the toast and added a little bit of butter for flavor, she brought it on a plate with a glass of water to Juvia who remained in bed, and Cana joined on top to sit by Juvia's side to watch TV with her and made sure she was eating. Cana had to pressure Juvia in taking bites of her toast and drink water, but she eventually consumed enough to satisfy her sore stomach. The TV went on to a late-night movie that captured Juvia's attention, but her head started to bob up and down and rubbing the back of her neck sorely. Cana watched carefully before piping in during a scene that Juvia claimed she wanted to reenact with Gray (a scene of a boy and girl cuddling by the campfire, but the campfire could be Natsu if they were to go on a job again soon).

"Sore?" Cana asked her carefully, watching as Juvia flopped herself on her bed and whimpered.

"Usually, when Juvia goes on long jobs, her muscles get sore."

"Your bag was pretty heavy, now that I think of it," Cana remembered when she carried the Water Mage's traveling sack in from the entryway of her apartment. It did feel like she was carrying a sack of rocks. "And you said you carried most of it during your job?"

"Yeah…" Juvia slurred and rolled a bit closer to Cana, smushing her face against the closest pillow, but still facing the Card Mage. "Juvia doesn't need to bother Cana-san anymore. Juvia feels better. Juvia feels that she's wasted lots of Cana-san's time…"

"You've been saying that a lot, babe," Cana snickered and leaned back against the wall next to the bed. Facing her, Cana reached and checked Juvia's forehead with the back of her hand. "You still have a fever, Juvia. Do you feel okay?"

"Why is Cana-san here?" she suddenly asked quietly, making Cana retract her hand. "Not that Juvia minds, but Juvia is not used to being cared for...especially when she's sick. Sometimes Gray-sama will take care of her, but Juvia keeps her sicknesses to herself…"

Cana propped her head in her hand, using her elbow to balance against her knee. Her face was blank, but her eyes were soft and gentle. "Well, you're my friend, Juvia. My nakama. That's what nakama do for each other."

Juvia frowned. "But still, Juvia has never had anyone care for her before. Forgive Juvia, but this is somewhat new to her."

"Well, of course you have," Cana pressed, pushing Juvia's bangs out of her warm face. "When you were a kid, you had to have someone take care of you. Kiss your booboos, wipe your nose when you have boogers stuck in it; or someone to help you when you have a bad dream, need something from the top shelf…"

"No, Juvia's never had that at the orphanage," Juvia confessed, rubbing under her eye tiredly. "Lots of people, even the staff, didn't want much with Juvia because of her rain problem."

Cana's purple eyes widened, her jaw nearly dropping. "Even...when you had a fever or very sick?"

"No, Juvia learned to take care of herself for the most part. Gray-sama checks in on Juvia when he asks when she's sick, and Gajeel-kun knows not to bother me unless I call him first," Juvia explained. "Cana-san is really good at taking care of people, too."

Cana was shocked by this. Of course it took years for her and Gildarts to reveal their blood relationship as father and daughter, but the Guild still was much of a family to Cana ever since she joined as a kid. Whenever she got sick, a cold or flu, there was someone at the guild to come over and take care of her. When she had horrible nightmares and was too scared to go back to sleep alone, Cana had the choice of going to Erza, Mirajane or even Levy's room and share the bed for the night. Of course, Cana knew that Juvia spent most of her childhood in a orphanage or foster homes, but she figured someone would at least…

"Did you ever ask?"

Juvia peeked up, confusion written on her feverish face. "Mm?"

"I mean," Cana tried to put words together before continuing. "When you were a little kid and got sick, or needed someone, did you ask for help at all?"

"A few times, yes," the Water Mage shrugged before rolling to her back, looking up to the ceiling with a uninterested gaze. "Juvia would ask an adult who worked at the orphanage, but...they ignored Juvia. Juvia tried asking older kids once more twice. After a while, Juvia just stopped trying."

The brunette reached for Juvia's face, brushing her bangs out of her eyes with a sad expression. She couldn't understand how a sweet girl like Juvia would be ignored, especially when she needed someone? Cana knew of Juvia's rain and how it followed her, but that shouldn't be an excuse for people to ignore her. Cana couldn't imagine being ignored like that or anyone in Fairy Tail for that matter.

"Must've sucked," Cana said, unsure how to work the situation. She saw Juvia give her a big smile, her cheeks dark red from fever but her eyes sparkled just as fine.

"Juvia was used to it, but it is nice to have someone care like this now," the blue haired woman told her. "Cana is very nice to take care of Juvia, even though she didn't have to."

"Of course I had to," Cana rolled her eyes. "As I said, that's what nakama do for each other."

"Cana still didn't have to, even when Juvia insisted," Juvia responded, still smiling. "It makes Juvia happy that Cana took the time."

Seeing the Water Mage yawn and situate herself on her bed, Cana could feel her chest swelling with a sense of joy at the compliment Juvia gave her. "Would it be silly to say that I've always wanted a little sister?"

"A little sister?" Juvia tilt her head at her with curiosity.

"Yeah, well, my mom passed away when I was little and I knew my dad didn't have any other kids to speak of," Cana explained casually, inwardly snickering at Juvia's reaction of being so _bold_ about her father's relationships. "Anyway, I had a dream that, if my mom was still alive and she and my dad were still together, I would want them to make a little sister for me. You know, a little girl I can take care of and boss around sometimes; I can give her dating advice, go shopping with her and have little crafts made by her all by herself.

"With the Guild, I mean, we're a family in a way," she went on, leaning to the side on Juvia's extra pillows and plushies. "I still haven't gotten someone to be my 'little sister'. Everyone is kinda around the same age, so it would be weird as hell to be like 'Hey, can I be your big sister, cutie pants?'"

"Juvia supposes she understands," she nodded, making room for Cana to share the blanket. "Juvia has wanted a big sister, too. Gajeel-kun is like a brother to Juvia, but he is definitely not girly at all to pass as a sister."

"Well, it doesn't matter right now," Cana said, yanking the comforter down for Juvia to crawl into with her, tucking the ill girl in and sighing in relief at seeing her listen for once. "You need to rest now, okay? I'll stay overnight and make sure you don't go running for the bathroom. If you don't get an upset stomach in the morning, I'll make you toast again before I go back to my place and let you sleep longer."

"Okay," Juvia hummed, letting herself sink into the bed and main pillow, watching as Cana made herself comfortable by her side. Juvia's bed was large enough to fit the two of them and give them enough elbow room. When Cana crossed her arms and ankles, Juvia smiled a little when she closed her purple eyes. "Goodnight, Cana-san."

"G'night, babe," Cana smirked affectionately, not opening her eyes.

=xxx=

It took Juvia a few days to feel better enough to go to the Guild and get a better meal, all with Cana checking on her every morning before she took off with her day and again in the evening just incase. In a week, Juvia made a full recovery and returned to her chipper, bright and cute self that Cana loved seeing drunk or sober.

Returning from the bar late one night, Cana Alberona snuck into Fairy Hills quietly as possible. Approaching her door, the Card Mage took notice of a small gift bag at her door. The bag was purple and had a large pink bow on top, making Cana wonder if it was from another wannabe-boyfriend she sees every once in awhile at the bars.

' _But Erza makes sure they keep out of Fairy Hills for sure…'_ Cana remembered instantly as she went closer to the bag and picked it up carefully. She didn't consume too much alcohol that night, so her conscience was pretty clear overall.

Undoing the bow carefully, Cana reached into the purple bag and pulled out what looked to be a plush to look like Cana. The doll matching her long, brown hair and purple eyes and even the outfit was similar to what Cana would wear on any normal day at the Guild. Blinking, Cana was impressed yet still confused by the present.

Looking back into the bag, Cana found a folded card on the bottom and pulled that out, cradling the bag and doll in one arm as she opened the paper to see neatly written cursive.

 _To Onee-san_

 _Lots of love from your little sister,_

 _Juvia_

A smile slowly began growing on her face, little tears tickling the corner of her eyes as she looked behind her to her neighbor's door. Cana knew that Juvia went off on another job with Gray and Gajeel earlier this morning while she was out, but it still made her heart swell with the fact that Juvia took the time to make a little gift…

And even considered her a big sister.

A big, fat grin on her face, Fairy Tail's notorious drunken maiden unlocked her door with a tune sprouting from her lips. Ideas flooded in her head on what to do with Juvia once she came back from her job.

Cana knew a really good recipe for brownies that she knew Juvia would cry over!

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - I have this headcannon that Cana calls Juvia 'babe' as an affectionate nickname because Juvia has a baby-ish face and innocent personality that Cana finds amusing. Hope you enjoyed my first oneshot!


	2. Chapter 2

**Title -** Butler (Gruvia A-Z: B)

 **Characters -** Juvia Lockser and Gray Fullbuster

 **Genre -** Romance, Sexy Time, OTP, Canon-verse

 **Rating -** M

 **Summary -** Because Maid!Juvia is just so popular, why not have a slice of Butler!Gray serving our beloved Water Mage? It's gonna be a fun time anyway.

* * *

=xxx=

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Juvia Lockser unlocked the knob of her apartment door, opening it and slipping inside to the slightly warmed entryway with familiar shoes lines against the wall - all hers and Gray's shoes neatly placed side-by-side. The sight made her sigh quietly in delight, being gone for a three day job that wasn't something new, but it tired her out. She couldn't contain her cheeks from puffing on the train home to come back to her apartment and see her beloved Gray-sama.

"Juvia is home!" she called out before yawning, hearing footsteps coming her way that sounded a lot like her boyfriends'. Reaching down to take off her brown boots sorely, Juvia conjured up a tired smile on her lips when she felt Gray's presence in front of her. "Gray-sama wouldn't believe the job Juvia went on. She had to go through the mountains and the weather was just -?"

Standing back up, Juvia's tongue got stuck in a twist at the sight of her boyfriend and his attire. His stance of a straight back and his hands behind his back, like a professional gentleman with his bangs slicked back. Donning a legit black suit and red tie, dressed to the nines and practically glowing with stars bubbles in Juvia's imagination, Gray had a purposeful smirk on his lips before bowing his head towards her, greeting her in a way she wasn't used coming home to (normally Gray would come to the door and give her a welcome home kiss and a hug when she walked through the door).

"Welcome home, Juvia-sama," he said slowly, the tone of voice causing Juvia to suppress a shiver. Oh, she knew that voice pretty well from past experience.

"J…'Juvia- _sama'_?" she spluttered with utter confusion, squinting her eyes at him with disbelief. "Uhm. Gray-sama, what are you -?"

"Ah-ah," Gray shushed her by pressing his finger to her lips. He had pearly white gloves on too, and it startled Juvia even more because her boyfriend would _never_ go the extra mile of wearing more than one layer of clothes, especially gloves. "You must be confused, _Juvia-sama._ Don't you remember? I work for you as your personal butler, I'm nowhere in the same ranks as you are."

"B-b-b... _Butler?"_ Juvia squeaked in pure shock, her cheeks flaming up into bright red. Her own hands slapping her cheeks with her palms and shutting her eyes. "What is this? Is Juvia dreaming because, if she is, Juvia is freaking out very much right now! This isn't like her usual dreams with Gray-sama!"

Peeking her eyes open, Juvia could tell that she definitely wasn't dreaming with her love's reaction. His face scrunched in displeasure as he huffed in annoyance. Yes, that was definitely the real Gray-sama Juvia knew and not her usual wind-blowing-through-his-pretty-hair-and-holding-her-bridal-style-and-wearing-white Gray-sama in her dreams. Blinking, Juvia tried to swallow as she tilt her head at him.

"Uhm…" she mumbled, catching his attention as he regained his more stoic-like face. If this was something he thought up and took lots of time thinking, Juvia supposed she should play along and ask questions later. After all, it was pretty interesting and fun switching suffixes (not to mention Gray looks really cute in a suit). "J-Juvia is sorry... _Gray._ It must have been the job she went on and Juvia is just lost her train of thought for a moment," she smiled, her cheeks still red.

Smirking, seeing her catching on with the act, Gray bowed his head once more. "It is quite alright, Juvia-sama. Don't worry about it." Standing upright once more, Gray stepped down into the entryway and slipped behind her, making Juvia mentally notice he was wearing that fancy cologne he puts on for really special occassions. Reaching from behind her and to the buttons of her blue coat, Gray leaned in to her ear, smirking devilishly at her little shiver. "Allow me to take your coat for you, Juvia-sama. You've had a long trip home."

The blue haired woman held her breath and watched as his gloved hands expertly unbuttoned each gold pebble slowly, occasionally slipping his fingers into the fabric to open it more before reaching to the last button and slowly peel it off her shoulders. She instinctively helped her arms out of the sleeves and clutched her hands to her tanktop chest and watched her boyfriend carefully hang the coat next to his usual one on a free hook.

"I have prepared your tea and a small snack before your return, Juvia-sama," Gray explained coolly as he turned back to the blushing woman and gave her a casual smile. "You don't eat well while you're out alone on jobs, you know."

"Gray-sa -! Uhm, _Gray_ knows Juvia too well," Juvia spluttered shyly, realizing she nearly broke out of her character by accident. Gray didn't seem to mind the tiny slip as he held out one of his hands, gesturing to assisting the water Mage up on the small ledge that lead into their home.

Giggling, Juvia shyly slipped her fingers into his palm and stepped up to the familiar warmth of their apartment, thanking her boyfriend before he came up and began guiding her by a hand to the small of her back to the tiny dining room they have. A simple table with two chairs only, Juvia was surprised to see it decorated with a tablecloth of white and a small vase of roses in the middle with an arrangement of her favorite tea set and a plate of chocolate cookies she adored so much placed neatly, as if it was copied from a decor magazine.

Hearing her tiny gasp of surprise, Gray chuckled quietly and went over to the chair she usually sat in, carefully pulling it out to give her space to sit. "Come and sit down, Juvia-sama. The tea is just about done brewing and I'll prepare your cup for you," he urged in a silky voice, making Juvia's heart skip a beat as she numbly followed his order. Once she was carefully tucked into her spot and placed her hands on her lap (a move she did when she was usually unsure or shy, he knew) Gray moved to the silver teapot and checked the loose leaves in the strainer before nodding approvingly. "Why not tell me about your job, Juvia-sama. You said you had some weather?"

"Oh? Ah..!" Juvia breathed, obviously lost in her own thoughts a moment before just by staring at him. He smirked before grabbing her teacup and the kettle handle, pouring in what Juvia instantly knew was her favorite raspberry green tea. "Yes, Juvia has some trouble with the weather in the mountains, because it started storming and the client lost his medical shipment during the accident. Juvia had to go up and search for it in the snowstorm and it was very cold."

Juvia watched shyly as Gray placed in a spoonful of sugar into the tea - just the way Juvia loved her raspberry - and stirred it on the tea plate. He was listening closely, so she went on. "It took a while for Juvia to find it, but there were a group of Mage bandits trying to take it and Juvia had to take care of them…"

"I am guessing that my lady and mistress took care of them flawlessly?" Gray inquired, making Juvia peep in shock at his term for her.

"U-uh, yes, it was fairly simple, but still a hassle with the snowstorm. Juvia's client was very grateful for bringing the shipment back along with the bandits for their crime," she breathed shyly when Gray placed the tea in front of her, along with a small plate of three cookies next to it. "Ah, thank you!"

"It is my duty to serve you, Juvia-sama, for all your needs and desires," Gray said simply.

" _Juvin_!" the Water Mage squeaked shyly at his naughty smile as she held her flaming cheeks, refusing to look his way as she shakingly grabbed a cookie and shoved it into her mouth. She could hear his quiet chuckle and it made her heart pound harder in her chest.

Really, she can't take any more of this after a tiring job and a trip home!

Eventually calming herself down, Juvia politely ate the rest of her snack and sipped her tea until her cup ran dry, smiling happily at the warmth filling her belly and the flavor sticking to her tongue. As his role, Gray stood perfectly still (and clothed, surprisingly!) by her side and waited until she carefully got out of her chair and faced him, a sweet smile on her face.

"Thank you very much," she said to Gray, seeing him return with a tiny smirk. "Juvia liked it very much. It was a nice treat to come home to -!"

"Juvia-sama," Gray drawled in a low voice, startling her when his gloved hand reached up and gently gripped her chin. Juvia could feel her heart jumping into her throat. "You have some chocolate on your face."

"A...ah?" Juvia gaped with red cheeks when his face inched closer to her own. Her hands gripped the front of her tank tightly, her knees shaking. "W-wha -?"

"From the cookie, ma'am," he explained, his breath hot against her face. "Allow me to assist you."

Juvia couldn't stop herself from shutting her eyes tightly when his lips brushed her trembling ones, practically shaking in her stance when she felt his tongue touch her skin. She peeped in a high pitched squeal when Gray sensually licked the corner of her mouth, taking the small smudge of the sweet chocolate away before pressing his mouth there. Juvia exhaled shakingly, her face suddenly relaxing as she tried to turn her head so their lips could meet properly.

But, when she did, he pulled back and left her to blink her eyes open with confusion.

"Wha..?" Juvia slurred as she stared up to Gray with a disbelief look on her face.

Her 'butler' tilt his head, knowing fully well the effect he had on her. "There, that is better."

Narrowing her eyes sharply at him, Juvia huffed and crossed her arms under her breasts. It wasn't often she got irritated by her dear boyfriend, but when he denied her a kiss? Oh, that turned on her temper to start bubbling.

"Is something wrong, _Juvia-sama_?" Gray openly teased her, noticing that she was tapping her foot a little on the hardwood floor. "Have I done something to displease you?"

Thinking it over, Juvia finally registered in her mind that Gray was roleplaying as a submissive, obeying character towards her, where she had control in this situation. A little light popped in her head, her cheeks boiling even hotter with embarrassment at what she was conjuring up with her wild imagination. Gray was practically begging her through character to respond to his idea, and she took long enough to finally realize his plan.

Fine. Juvia can play along. It has been a while since they roleplayed anyway.

"Yes, you have," Juvia responded with an aggravated exhale, making Gray blink with surprise by her response. Juvia could tell he thought he _actually_ upset her. "You forgot to do something when Juvia came in, and I just realized this now and Juvia is just not happy with it."

"And that is?" Gray asked with relief, seeing her getting into proper character. "Tell me, Juvia-sama, and I will fulfill all your wishes and desires."

" _Gray_ forgot to give Juvia something she's been waiting for days," she said, gripping the fold of his coat's collar and began pulling him as she walked backwards. When she felt her back touch the wall, she tugged a bit too hard on his collar, making him bend a little bit to her height. "You forgot to give Juvia her kiss."

Her lover blinked before coming to conclusion what she wanted, his eyes darkening with joy as a grin stretching on his lips. Both hands coming up to press against the wall of either side of her head, Gray tilt his head to the side as he trapped her with his gaze. "I can't believe I forgot. I must have been so busy for your arrival home, Juvia-sama, that I forgot the most important thing."

"Mmph!" Juvia pouted, but her eyes pretty much exposed her happiness and excitement. She couldn't resist to lean her cheek when his gloved hand came and caressed her cheekbone with his fingers.

"How is it that I greet you home after being away from so long?" Gray murmured in a low voice, making Juvia break into a small, shy smile when he pressed his forehead against hers. "Should it be a normal 'hello' kiss?"

He pressed his lips carefully on hers, a tiny kiss that Gray would give her whenever they found each other at the Guild or crossing paths. As much as Gray didn't like showing constant affection in public or around their friends, but he would normally sneak a small kiss like the one he's giving her now. A brush of their lips, the kind of kiss that makes her smile for the rest of the day.

"Or an 'I appreciate your attention' kiss?" Holding one side of her face, Gray pressed a slightly deeper kiss that made her cheeks pink. "Or maybe 'I missed you'?" He kissed his way from her mouth to her jaw and down her neck, making her shiver in delight when he peppered kisses on the skin of her neck. She bit back a light giggle at the small tickle when he gave her a little nip and sucked on her pulse.

"Nah, that ain't going to work. It's not enough to please my Juvia-sama," Gray tsked as he brought his face back to see her eyes all dreamy and cheeks flushed, unhappy with the result. "Perhaps the kiss that makes you weak at the knees."

Juvia didn't have time to register what he was saying when he slanted his mouth for a searing kiss that made her eyes go wide before rolling closed with a groan when his tongue slipped inside and began stroking her own. Her toes curled as her arms wrapped around his neck and tangled her hands in his neatly groomed hair when he forced her head to lean back to deepen the kiss even more and take her bottom lip between his teeth. This made her whine quietly, too embarrassed to make it any louder than a whisper when he let go.

"Does that please you, Juvia-sama?" Gray asked her in a seductive voice that made her shiver with half-lidded eyes. She had to fight to regain her breath before he sensually licked her lip, where his faint bite mark was, before giving her a sweet kiss.

The back of her head lightly bumped to the wall supporting her at this point, her chest heaving for breath as her grip tightened on his hair and his suit collar. Blinking slowly, Juvia raised her chin and stared at her boyfriend with a semi-stubborn look. She wanted Gray to fight for this, honestly - she loved it when Gray worked hard to bring her pleasure.

"No?" Gray smirked and she shook her head a little. "You must be angry with me, Juvia-sama, if those can't bring you forgive me. What can I do to make you forgive me, mi'lady?" He leaned forward to whisper in her ear, causing her to close her eyes and bit her lip with a small smile. "Order whatever you desire, and I will do it for you, Juvia-sama."

Rolling her neck with a contemplating expression, her eyes still closed, a soft hum coming from her lips before she stopped all together. Opening her eyes, Juvia looked to Gray, her fingers lacing together behind his neck and a tiny smile on her face.

"Juvia wants you to make her relax and weak to the point she can't leave the bed in the morning," she said coolly. "Make her that she can't walk and you have to take care of her tomorrow, if you want."

She watched as something sparked in Gray's eyes, felt his muscles tense under her touch when he licked his lips and smirked darkly at her order. Sliding his hands down to the back of her thighs, he forced the woman to support herself properly against the wall and wrap her long legs around his waist, making her peep her surprise. Juvia giggled at his enthusiasm and clung to him when he got ahold of her weight, pressing kisses to his strong jawline and lightly bit his ear.

"It would be my pleasure," he chuckled as he lifted her off the wall and held onto her rear. He carried her down the small hallway while she kept herself busy by nipping and sucking on his pulse - even though his collar and tie were getting in the way, she didn't mind helping herself to tug it away.

The bedroom they shared was simple to both of their liking. A large bed in the middle with thick blankets (more for Juvia than Gray, since he didn't like being stuffed with those heavy quilts) with pillows on top. The dark-colored floor contrasted with the white dresser that had Juvia's makeup and toiletries and Gray's own possessions on top - along with some of Gray's clothes and Juvia's hats. Some of Gray's clothes would be scattered across and their bedroom would be plain yet homey for them…

 _Was_ is probably the best term when Juvia turned her head when Gray stopped for a moment.

The room was dimly lit, having changed the lighting to candles instead of their lamps. Juvia had to blink a few times to take in the cleanliness of their bedroom. None of Gray's clothes were around or Juvia's hats on the bedpost; their dresser was replaced with bouquets of roses and scented candles, making Juvia's cheeks burn bright red at the change from their usual blue and white quilts to black and silvery spread with some scattered rose petals on the pillows.

Gray was gentle when he strolled over, a snarky smirk on his face as he brought Juvia over and carefully settled her on the corner edge of the bed. He took a liking to how Juvia became surprised by the softness this type of blanket had (their other quilt was somewhat firm, but it always felt nice having a weight on top while she slept), her fingers tracing an interesting pattern.

"Gray-sama did all of this?" she asked him with a tilt of her head, her cheeks burning. "Juvia thinks you've had this planned for a long time."

Gray pressed a small kiss to her flushed cheek, getting her attention back. "I wanted to make sure that Juvia-sama will receive whatever she desired when she came home. Is it too much for me to spoil my lady and mistress when she comes home?"

With his gloved hand and the tips of his fingers, Gray turned her face back to him so he could kiss her lips for a long minute until she whined. He let go with a smile, seeing her eyes becoming shiney before kissing her again, deeper this time that she was pushed back onto the mattress and he hovered over her while one of his hands slide up her side.

"But how long -?" Juvia was unable to finish her question when he kissed her again, his tongue brushing against her bottom lip before slipping inside. His hand that was stroking her side slid behind her neck and angled her head to taste her better, making her legs squirm and thighs press together.

"Don't worry about it, _Juvia-sama_ ," Gray breathed against her lips, remaining in character. "It's my job to take care of you and make you happy. Let me do my job."

"But…" Juvia gasped when with other hand positioned her legs apart and settled between them, his mouth brushing into her neck. She hummed in pleasure when he rolled his hips, his pants and her skirt rubbing against each other, but she could feel how warm he is through their clothes. "Oh!"

"Just relax and let me spoil you," Gray whispered into her ear as he reached for her belt sash and carefully grasped her gold button, untying the knot and pulling it off from around her waist and dropped it carelessly on the floor before unbuttoning her skirt. He bit her neck and sucked on the skin there, making her gasp again. "You gave me an order and I intend to do what you told me."

"Mm! _Mnn!_ " Juvia let her head fall back onto the soft bedding and allowed him to ravish her neck with delightful licks, nips and sucks. She raised her hips to help him pull her long skirt down, revealing her black underwear when he stood up and gave her a smile that made her heart nearly stop. Too embarrassed by his stare, even with her tank still on, made one of her hands come to cover her trembling lips with the back of her palm.

"And you did say to make it that you can't leave the bed tomorrow," Gray said as he pulled Juvia by her other hand to sit up so that he can remove her top. Once he removed the tank, leaving her in her matching bra. "You were gone for too long, honestly. I didn't like it."

When he got close enough for her to reach, Juvia pulled him to her by his coat collar and scooted back for him to rest a knee on the bed. Gray balanced himself on his hand as he stole a kiss from her. "Y'know I missed you, so I did have plenty of time to plan for your home coming."

Juvia tried to remove his coat, but he stopped her by grasping her wrists and pinned them above her head when she fell down on the bed. She blinked in confusion and looked at him with a questionable gaze, seeing him smirk darkly before giving her another kiss before she fussed. "You need to relax, as you've requested. Allow me to handle everything for now, mi'lady."

Slanting his mouth, Gray kissed her passionately and oh-so-slowly that it made her toes curl. He cupped her face when she moaned at the touch of his tongue against her own, grinding his hips down between her legs particularly hard and her hands gripped the blanket tightly, just feeling his body against her.

She gasped for breath when he let her go for air - her face so red at this point and the noises she made became strangled - moving his mouth to trail kisses down her cheek and down to her collarbone. His gloved hands slipped down to her covered breasts before carefully one, exciting a short moan from the woman before she arched her back into his hand. His other hand, swiftly snuck to the middle of her cleavage where the tiny clasp held the garment together, his lips kissing its way down, down and down..!

Juvia mewled when his mouth enveloped her right nipple, gently sucking while he slowly peeled her bra off her body. Her eyes closed in pure bliss as her hands tangled in his hair, shakingly holding to his black hair and occasionally pulling when he nipped her there; once Gray succeeded in removing her bra, he grabbed both breasts and massaged the one he was currently hardening with his mouth and groped the other, using his fingers to lightly pinch.

Juvia shivered when he let go of her breast from his mouth, a string of saliva connecting his bottom lip to the moistened nipple and causing a cold breeze to make her tense just the littlest bit before shaking when he switched to the next breast. He was a bit more rougher with the other, biting a little bit harder and nipping her skin sharply that she squealed and shut her eyes. His hand didn't hesitate to cause friction on the previous one, warming her from the chill with his heated gloved palm. His other hand slipped behind her, trailing a chilly path down her spine slowly (she could feel he was using his Ice Magic on his fingertips) making her moan. Her Gray always had the creative mind of mixing warmth and cold on her, with the way her body works like her element, this form of torture on her body heat was her most favorite feeling ever.

"G- _Gray_ ," she huffed airly when his mouth gave one last nip before placing his boiling tongue on the underside of her chest, her eyes cracking open shyly as she rest her head to the side on her shoulder. She watched him give her a half-grin, rewarding him with a soft scratch on his scalp before pulling his icy hands to her hips -

She saw the tips of his gloves with tiny, sharp icicles trailing down her sides. Shivering, Juvia realized what he had in mind and snapped her eyes to him. "No, not another pair of Juvia's underwear!" Juvia peeped quickly to her, giving him a warning glare that made him freeze on the spot.

Gray had a habit of tearing Juvia's underwear with his ice. As much as Juvia loved how animalistic he could get in tearing her clothes off, she did not want to lose another pair tonight - those were her favorite too.

She held that stare with him until she felt the ice melt and drip on the skin of her waist (and _God,_ how hard it was to keep her moan in her throat at the delightful feeling of the cold remains of his ice falling on her hot skin). Gray got the idea and changed the angle of his hands to carefully holding her sides, an understanding nod from him.

"Of course, Juvia-sama," Gray said in a sultry tone, his eyes hinting something Juvia couldn't get and it made her bite her lip. "How rude of me to think I should ruin your undergarments so horribly… Allow me to try…"

He trailed off, bowing his head to the rim of her black underwear. Juvia's eyes widened at the sensation of his tongue slowly stroking across her hipbones before reaching to take the edge of her underwear between his teeth and tug. Her throat went dry when his eyes shot back up and held her gaze as he slowly pulled her underwear off her and down her legs, unable to contain a sigh when she felt her lower belly begin to boil at the seductive sight when he raised her legs as he stood, mouth still working on plucking the garment from her ankles and tilt his head, showing her his success.

Holding her ankles together with one hand, Gray opened his mouth to let the pair of panties fall to the ground, revealing his devilish smirk. It made Juvia want to die at the arousing sight of him pressing his lips to her legs, closing his eyes as he kissed her soft skin. Pearly white gloves slowly slid down her raised legs and towards her knees, him kneeling and coming closer to the bed as he did so, making her struggle to breathe at the slow, sensual touches on her long limbs.

"Your legs are always so soft, Juvia-sama," Gray whispered against the skin of her knee. He was on his own joints at the bed, only from the shoulders up Juvia was able to see him when she raised her head and watch as he parted her legs carefully with both hands. His hold on each thigh was as if he was carrying fragile china, so gentle yet firm to make sure they don't slip from his palms. The fire igniting in her belly was making her dizzy, and the room suddenly felt so hot even though his hands and lips were always cool to the touch.

Each kiss to placed on her thigh was the steps he took in getting closer to her center - his target, she knew - his eyes looking at her with such tenderness that it made her melt and heart pound harder against her ribs. Once he got to the point he was supporting himself on the bed, he reached up and kissed her pubic bone, making her softly mewl when his tongue licked there and his hands carried each of her legs over his strong shoulders.

Her body was shaking when his hands slipped from her hips to her torso, carefully running his fingers along her exposed skin. "G-Gray-s… Gray," she reminded herself quickly when his hands stopped before resuming when she corrected herself. " _Gray_ …"

Bringing only one hand back, Gray used his thumb to open one side of her labia before pressing his mouth to her clitoris, making her inhale sharply and instinctively arch her back off the bed. Her eyes rolled closed when he rubbed his tongue against the sensitive nub, moaning in encouragement while the heels of her feet dug into his muscular, suit-clad back and grab his hand between her ribs with both of her own.

"Oh god, _yes!"_ Juvia whined, tilting her head back when he sucked particularly hard on her sex. Her chest heaving as her skin began to boil with each lick, her teeth biting her lip hard when he sucked and tensed when he would slip his thumb to rub the moistening flesh of her womanhood. "Please, _don't stop,_ Gray! _Ahnn!"_

Gray was gentle as he stroked his thumb against the flesh, his lips tenderly kissing and licking her sensitive nerves before giving her a hard suck that caused her to let out a high-pitched whine. Juvia bit her lip when the hand on her ribs reached and squeezed her breast, fingers only lightly brushing over her nipple to make her shiver. He was working to get her sensitive, using her sensitive spots to build her up without actually going inside her - the tension building in her lower stomach reacting to the treatment on her clit was not enough for her, honestly, and she made that vocally clear and he took it to lick her slower, suck harder and grope her breast tighter.

A soft cry slipped from her slips as she reached down to his semi-neat hair and gripped the top of his head, ruining his slicked back bangs. " _Gray..!"_ she exhaled is a cracked voice, making him slowly come to a stop and look over her cleft, his mouth kissing and nipping the inside of her thighs as they made eye contact.

Frustrated tears tickled her eyes as she pouted to him pleadingly. "Go _deeper_ , Gray," she told him in a soft voice, strands of her hair slipping across her face seductively as she tilt her head to her other shoulder. Biting her lip and expressed her facial features to just the way she knew made Gray's inside spark, she rolled her hips, forcing movement between her clit and his thumb to make her eyes roll close.

"Juvia wants you to go deeper _now,"_ she bit out in a strain as she cracked her eyes open to look at him with a hard gaze. "Now, Gray," she ordered in a low voice, feeling his hand against her sex freeze on the spot. "Go inside Juvia _now!"_

She felt him exhale through his lips slowly, causing a tingling breeze on her wet sex and making her shiver in delight. Holding eye contact, Juvia watched him retract his hand from her breast and back towards himself; a neutral expression on his face as he brought his gloved hand to his chin and bit the corner of his glove and peeled it off his hand, somewhat similar to what he did with her underwear.

Juvia nearly choked at his cocky grin when he plucked the glove away from his mouth and tossed it away. "As you wish," he said before diving once more, but in a different spot.

His hot tongue slipped up her center before shoving itself inside, making her nearly squeal with the muscle swirled around inside her, tasting the arousal along her walls before slowly pulling out to use his naked fingers to trace her opening before sliding inside with a single finger, repeating the motion as his tongue did as he swallowed thickly.

Juvia's hold on his hair tightened immensely when his finger curled inside, testing her sensitivity before pressing his lips there with his hand, the other still working on her clitoris, rolling the knub hard and fast. She was shaking under his touch, breathing hard and shutting her eyes tight as her thighs clenched and heels dug deeper into his back.

Unable to hold on much longer, Juvia gripped Gray's hair and yanked when she felt her climax reach its peak. A delightful, hard tingle spread from her lower belly and throughout her whole body, an airy moan left her lips as she arched high off the bed, still feeling Gray's tongue and hands keeping at a constant pace, prolonging her release. She felt his tongue dive inside and taste her, his hands leaving her center to keep her legs open for him since she was starting to close her thighs against the sides of his head. He spread her legs further apart and proceeded to eat her, not skipping out on shoving his tongue as deep as he could to make her let out a sharp yelp.

Juvia's eyes shut tightly, a few tears slipping out as she moaned out loudly when he lifted her hips off the bed, changing the angle of his pleasurable assault to become more sensitive. His tongue dug deeper, sucking as much of her release out of her as possible as she writhed in pure bliss to his touch.

"Gray... _oh god, Gray..!"_ Juvia sighed her chest thumping with her beating heart hammering against her ribs. It ached so perfectly through her body, her legs falling limp over his shoulders, feet dangling on his back as she stared dazedly at the ceiling with stars in her eyes. Her hands falling from his hair to beside her her head, fingers slightly shaking in pleasure when Gray finished and pulled his mouth away, making her close her eyes.

"Mm," Juvia hummed, turning her head to the side of the mattress, feeling tiny drips of sweat sliding down her chest and face. "That felt so wonderful," she exhaled in a blissful sigh.

"You think I was done?" Gray's voice made her perk a little in confusion. Opening her eyes and looking in her peripheral vision, she could see Gray gently set her legs down with the utmost care before standing, making her head snap his way to see him completely stripped of his uniform and totally nude.

"W-when did y-you..?" Juvia spluttered with heat rising in her cheeks, seeing him remove his last article of clothing - his other glove that he didn't remove - by plucking each finger from the thumb to his pinky before tugging it off from his middle finger. Juvia could feel herself becoming wet in her center when he licked his lips naughtily at her. She shrank herself against the black blanket when he hovered over her, their face coming close together.

"You can still feel your legs, right, Juvia-sama?" Gray asked her with a raised brow. His hair a complete mess and yet he still retains to his butler character, making Juvia eyes go wider. A finger tickled up her thigh, making her jump at the touch and resolved his question. "See? I haven't fulfilled my job yet," he said as his hand slid up her leg, towards her center before easing in two fingers.

Juvia shuddered and let out a low moan with he spread his fingers apart from each other, stretching her sex just right. "I still have to make you relax and so weak that you can't leave the bed, my dearest mistress," Gray explained, settling his hips down to when she could feel his hard and _boiling hot_ arousal on her lower belly, making her inhale sharply when he leaned down and touched noses with her. "I'm going to go so _deep_ and _hard_ that you'll be unable to walk tomorrow, Juvia-sama. You'll have to depend on me to take care of you…"

Juvia shivered as she wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers slipping into his inky hair as she gave him a loving smile. Her cheeks bright red and probably looking like a mess, Juvia's face was filled with affection and love as Gray carefully caressed her cheek with his fingers as he returned the gaze with a small smile.

" _Gray_ takes good care of his _Juvia-sama_ already," she told him lovingly, leaning her cheek into his palm. "Juvia is very grateful to have a faithful man like _Gray_ by her side."

"Perhaps it's because I have fallen in love with my lady and mistress," he suggested with a growing smirk, dropping a gentle kiss to her brow before he used his other hand to reach for his member and situate himself between her legs, carefully nudging her wet sex with his own. She closed her eyes and shivered at the sensation, still sensitive from her previous climax. "Maybe I'm more than just a butler when I take care of you…"

"Juvia returns the same feeling as being his mistress," she sighed and reopened her eyes when he raised one of her legs over his hip and she did the same with the other, crossing her ankles. "Juvia thinks she loves you just as much as you love Juvia."

A tender smile spread across his face as he bent his head and gave her a slow kiss that stole her breath away. Slowly, he pushed his hips forward, letting the head of his member break inside her sex and make Juvia's jaw drop to let out a airy huff; pushing himself further, Gray filled himself inside her as deep as he could without halt, causing Juvia to arch and let out startled yet aroused noises from her lips as he trailed kisses up and down her neck, his thumb stroking her flushed cheek while his other hand angled her lower back upwards his way, creating a delightful angle for him to brush that spot inside her that made her see stars behind her eyelids.

"Oh -! _Ohh..!"_ she gasped and arched higher and moaned into his ear with pure delight. Her hands in his hair gripped tightly and tugged and pulled at his roots, her legs tightening around him when he began moving slowly, trusting by every slow, hard heartbeat that made her shake and sob in pleasure.

Gray hid his face into her hair, his mouth lightly biting her neck lightly as he groaned against her, holding her closer as he continued with his achingly slow, deep pace. The sound of their bodies echoed in the room with their panting and harsh breathing, the creaking of the bed supporting them ignored as they focused on each other as Gray pushed deeper each time he pulled out slowly, making her whine.

Tugging his hair to bring his head up a little, Juvia's mouth was began searching blindly for his, making him quickly end her search by connecting her lips passionately. Their tongues meeting and teeth clanking and nipping each other's' lips in a lazy frenzy as he rocked harder into her and she in returned to weakly meet his thrusts.

Her belly twisting once more in the most delightful but painful way, Juvia pulled away from his kisses and buried her face on his shoulder. She could feel her legs becoming numb and her toes tingling. "Please... _Gray-sama,"_ she moaned pleadingly. "Juvia c-can't take it anymore." Tears slipped from her eyes as her head fell back, giving him access to kiss her throat and run his tongue up. She didn't stop herself from breaking her character, feeling every nerve in her body too shake up to remain in play with him. "Gray-sama, Juvia can't -!"

"I got you, baby," Gray groaned into her ear before he quickened his pace two or three notches, making Juvia's voice raise in volume. He didn't let up on his hard thrusts, forcing her deeper into the bed as he clung to her and built up the tension between them.

Juvia barely registered in her pleasure-induced mind of Gray's hand sliding down her torso and towards her fold, finding her sensitive bundle of nerves and pinched, forcing her to climax hard at the sudden sensation. A high pitched moan escaped her mouth as she shook hard against Gray's hard body as he continued until he reached his own climax shortly after, spreading boiling heat inside her that made her sob in bliss.

Gray prolonged the tingling, overwhelming sensation as he slowed down before coming to a halt, still deep inside her and joined so perfectly intimate as they held each other. Both were breathing hard, their chests heaving and arms wrapped around each other, Gray let out a breathy exhale before shakingly turning his head and kissed Juvia's cheek before forcing himself to stand up, carefully removing himself from inside her.

Juvia whimpered at the squelching noise of him removing herself, but also at the loss of him filling her so perfectly as he always did. Cracking her eyes open, Juvia watched him regain his balance, hands gripping the bed post for extra support as he took a few deep breaths; his hair a complete mess and sweat dripping so handsomely down his body, Juvia had to bite her lip when she watched him rest his hand on her thigh.

When she didn't react as she usually did to his touch on her leg, Gray smirked triumphantly before moving to pull the thick quilt back, revealing pearly white sheets underneath its dark cover. Gray returned to a still breathless Juvia and carefully wrapped his arms around her, lifting her thigh up for a support before he picked her up; her arms wrapping around his neck lazily as she hid her flushed face into his thick neck, still shaking as he arranged Juvia onto the sheets and pulled away so he could tuck her with the blanket and sheet covers around her nude body.

She kept her reach for him as he climbed into bed and returned to her embrace with a deep chuckle, wrapping a muscular arm around her and pulling her limp body towards him, her face snuggling instantly to his shoulder as he rest on his back. Running his hand through her messy, wavy hair, Gray tilt his chin to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head, feeling her nuzzle into his warmth and sighing.

"Gray-sama," Juvia purred in a tired voice, resting her head on his chest and sighing in defeat from moving. She smiled shyly when his chest rumbled with a laugh at her action, his hand moving down to stroke her shoulder blades with his fingertips.

"What'dya think?" Gray asked her with amusement in his voice, feeling Juvia squirm closer to him as she pressed wet kisses to his pectoral. "Did you like it?"

"Juvia was very surprised by Gray-sama, that's for sure," she confessed sweetly, resting her cheek back down and closing her eyes. "Juvia would have never thought Gray-sama would want to be Juvia's butler and go the extra mile to take orders."

"I like it when you order me around in bed in general," he smirked when she tensed at his matter-of-fact tone. Looking down to her blushing face, he tucked a lock of her hair behind her hair. "I figured this idea would make it more amusing if we spiced it up with a butler and mistress character in the mix."

"Juvia liked it very much," Juvia sighed. "Juvia really can't feel her legs. Gray-sama did a marvelous job! Juvia thought she was gonna break apart or explode if you prolonged it any further."

"It's my job to take orders from my lady and mistress," Gray hummed in his butler-like voice, making Juvia laugh sweetly when he pulled her closer. With his free hand, Gray snapped his fingers towards the candles, releasing a chilly breeze to blow out the flames and enveloping them in a comfortable darkness without getting up.

When that was done, Gray pulled Juvia to a more comfortable spot of laying halfway ontop of him, tucking her head under his chin and kissing her head affectionately.

"Is Gray-sama willing to help Juvia tomorrow?" Juvia chirped curiously in the dark, cuddling herself closer to her boyfriend. "Juvia...really doesn't think she'll be able to move much tomorrow."

Juvia didn't miss the proud tone in his voice when he chuckled and kissed her head once more. "Doesn't bother me one bit to spoil you for a day...or I could extend it to a couple of days, if I really feel like it. You did leave me for a long time, in my opinion."

"Gray-sama!" Juvia shrieked with red cheeks.

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - Bada bing for sexy time! MOMMA KITTY WANTS YOU TO JOIN THE BUTLER!GRAY GRUVIA SEXY TIME!


	3. Chapter 3

**Title -** Screams From Everywhere

 **Characters -** Juvia Lockser, Etherious Keith/Keyes; Gray Fullbuster, Zeref Dragneel; mention of others

 **Genre -** Semi-AU, Angst and Drama; Etherious!Juvia

 **Rating -** High T+

 **Summary -** She took it all as a game and she never played fair for the past years, as a result of losing it all. She truly is a devil in disguise and he doesn't want to play anymore.

sui-dolce on tumblr sent this - _Just saw your post and I gift you with a personal angsty headcanon of mine that even I am afraid of; "All this time it was the necromancer Keyes/Keith possessing Juvia's body just so he can resurrect Tartaros and reunite with Zeref._

It's not entirely as the marvelous Sui specified, but I do hope in the end that she will enjoy this anyway. I really get into these angsty moods and this really helped without actually having to destroy "everyone" like in comparison to _Amefurashi_. If anyone has any concerns for this oneshot or want to chat about it, I'm available on tumblr in my askbox (PMs may not work, incase there are others who have the same questions as you, I want to make sure I don't need to retype everything!). Enjoy, my babehz.

 ****EXTRA FUN - I was listening to the** _ **Battlefield 4 Remix of Run This Town**_ **that had majority of Rihanna singing while writing this. Bless Rihanna and her angelic, if-noise-would-kill voice. Most of the OST worked for this, but this song inspired the title and summary.****

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=xxx=

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Screams from Everywhere

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It was an awful sight to behold, in her opinion. Compared to everything else she saw in her life, she would easily rank this as the most dirtiest battle she has ever came across or partook in.

Unconscious or deceased bodies people she knew or remembered fairly vividly from her past with Fairy Tail littered the rubble of buildings and torn up streets of the city. Buildings were either in rubble or half standing of what would have been left of homes and stores; glass shattered everywhere and lightposts turned over. Fire in a few places and remnants of ice and weapons were scattered, it looked like hell was risen from the ground and planned to conquer the land with an iron fist.

It shame that this didn't seem like a great outcome for anyone on either side.

"Juvia, over here!" a familiar voice caught her attention, making her perk with a flutter in her chest as she turned around to see Gray Fullbuster waving her over with a couple other members of their group were collected. The south team were helping Lyon and some members of Lamia Scale with their injuries and she would see Erza communicating on her lacrima next to Laxus, who was passed out against a boulder.

Perking with a smile, Juvia twirled around in her torn skirt and leapt over to Gray, landing infront of him. Gray looked as dirtied and worn out as the rest of them, but Juvia couldn't help but smile at how he was forcing himself to remain awake and alert, a protective and leadering look in his face definitely attracted her attention.

"Gray-sama," she greeted coolly as she straightened her back from her journey over. The majority of the army they were battling with evacuated for some unknown reason, giving the south team a moment to catch their breath.

"Have you seen anyone else lingering around?" he asked her in a serious voice, making her blink for a moment. "Any more enemies?"

' _Oh, yes. That,'_ Juvia took a soft breath and shook her head at herself. ' _Gray-sama wanted Juvia to keep a lookout but instead she was counting bodies… It's close enough, isn't it?'_

"Not that Juvia can see," she said instead, shaking her head in confirmation to his question. "They may have all really left to somewhere else."

"Erza is trying to get to Mavis to see what we should do next," Gray informed her in a strong voice, letting her know that their job was far from over. "Don't wander too far away from me, understand?"

"Juvia can handle herself," she said with a roll of her eyes, but a smile still remaining on her lips as she dutifully followed him as he began climbing back to the group. "Any more news on Natsu-san?"

"Still out cold," Gray said with an exhale. Juvia's smile faltered just a little bit at how concerned he sounded in his voice, not hesitating to reach over and rest her hand on his bare shoulder to give him some kind of support.

"He'll be fine," she told him confidently. "Natsu-san always pulls through and never gives up. He just needs to get himself together for a moment."

Gray smirked at her attempt to comfort him. "You're probably right…"

Even though it was usually true on Juvia's part.

Rejoining the group, Juvia was about to see if she would overhear Erza's conversation with Mavis when someone gasped loudly and called out a alert of an intruder. Heads shot up to a pile of debris to see a silhouette of a man coming out of the clouds of dust and smoke.

Black hair and a heavy attire of cloth and drapery, everyone held still as the familiar face of Zeref ghosted into view. His face expressionless as he stopped at the ledge of a building he walked on, presenting himself as a strong and intimidating dictator he was…

It made Juvia stiffen at how everyone else tensed up and stood ready to attack.

"Zeref!" Gray roared, even causing the injured Mages to stand in a ready position. Erza dropped the lacrima and pulled out a sword from her armor, just itching to use her weapon to shed whatever color blood he would show from wounds.

The dark Mage, however, remained passive of the response of his arrival and scanned his eyes through the collection of people infront of him.

Juvia's cheeks flushed as Gray stepped in front of her, his fist to his palm as he used his body to shield and conceal Juvia from his view. She gasped just the littlest bit when she heard him release a deep growl.

"Do not mind me, I'm not here to cause any trouble with you," he said in the most relaxed voice ever, despite how every weapon and power of a Mage were aimed at him. "I was told that my army has found someone I lost."

"You're outnumbered, Zeref!" Erza declared strongly, even though it probably didn't help. They all knew what he was capable of, for sure, but Juvia was certain it was to bring everyone else confidence and the hope they desperately needed.

Zeref looked to Erza with a raised brow. "As I have said before, I don't have any intentions of troubling you. Unless I order so, you are all spared for the time being." Tilting his head to the side, Zeref reached up with one hand and began to gently rub his chin with his fingertips. "You seem to have someone I'm looking for, so if you would be so kind and allow me to do my little side-quest…"

"Like hell you are!" Gray snarled, beginning to conjure up his Ice Make into a sword. It was a surprise that Juvia didn't see him activate his Devil Slayer mark, but then again, he probably knew how uncomfortable it made her feel after she first saw it a half a year ago, when it first showed up.

To ease the tension she wasn't enjoying, Juvia placed her hands on Gray's shoulders and lightly bumped her forehead on his back. "Gray-sama, please don't. You're not strong enough right now!"

"There is no time to rest, Juvia! This is -!"

"' _Juvia'_?" Zeref's voice came out somewhat new, startling everyone. It was like he was genuinely surprised of the name.

Both of them looking back to the dark Mage, they saw Zeref's eyes opened wide as he looked pointedly at the blue haired woman, his lips parted in awe as Juvia blinked and began fidgeting in her stance. Gray stood more strong and raised an arm to shield her from the enemy.

"Is that the name you go by now?" Zeref said in a soft voice, arms crossing. "You go by ' _Juvia'?"_

Gray's eyes sharpened into dangerous slits, ready to protect his companion. "What do you want with Juvia, huh? Stay away from her!"

"You don't need to tell me what to do, boy," Zeref tsked at the Ice Mage, his brows furrowing. "Hiding her from me is pointless at this time."

Raising a hand, Zeref beckoned with two fingers to his way. "Come here now, let me take a look at you," he instructed, collecting his more cool, emotionless demeanor as the wind picked up.

Gray was about to take a step of an attack until Juvia side stepped him and slowly took a few steps away from the cluster of people, making Gray freeze in his spot at the move. Everyone watched as Juvia fiddled with her belt sash and nibbled her lower lip shyly - _her cheeks pink?_

"Juvia?" Gray whispered to her, his eyes wide.

"Juvia, get back here!" Erza ordered in a loud voice, stinging everyone's ears as the blue haired woman peeked up to Zeref.

Instead, Zeref offered her a soft, gentle smile, his attention solely on her. "Come here, my dear," he said simply, his hand holding out to her as if to offer her a dance.

Gray's heart stopped for a few seconds as he watched Juvia glance back to him, her expression apologetic, before she used her magic to spring herself up by a stream of water from her feet. Landing gracefully to the evil man's side. Some people shouted in horror at her bold movement to get so close to Zeref, but the action that happened afterwards nearly made them scream.

Slowly, Juvia looped her arm around Zeref's arm, pressing her temple against his shoulder and puffed her cheeks sadly. Her eyes bright and large as she _nuzzled_ her head against the man's shoulder.

"Who picked out that name for you, my dear?" Zeref asked in a gentle voice, the hand that was once raised then reached to pinch a lock of her dirty, wavy hair between his fingers, inspecting it. Gray nearly snapped at the close interaction as Juvia closed her eyes and nuzzled him again. "Was it _him_ who picked it out for you?"

"He heard it one time and decided to call Juvia this name a long time ago," she answered in a peep, reopening her eyes to glance up his way with a pout. "Does it anger you?"

Zeref's smile widened. "No, I prefer this one much better than _Keyes."_

" _KEYES_?" some Mages gasped out, making Zeref look away from the woman and back down to the crowd of people who looked dumbfounded, their grips on their weapons loosened and backs straightened at the sight before them.

The black haired Mage then smirked cruelly, as if amused by their behaviors. "Well yes, that is the name she was given when she was first born, after all," he answered. It was almost like he was picking fun at them, instead of this horrible and monstrosity of a war that was happening in present time and reality.

"Keyes was a name of a Demon Juvia killed years ago!" Erza declared in a tough body language, yet her voice cracked. "From the Tartaros Guild! Keyes is _dead!"_

Zeref blinked, unfazed. "It's normal to confuse the two of them, I suppose. It wasn't my idea to name her that when she was first created by me and Keith," he said boredly, his arm slipping out of Juvia's cradle to reach for her chin, examining her face. "Although, I prefer this name _Juvia,_ compared to _Keyes_ any day. It sounds much more fitting. Deloria did a wonderful job raising you."

Time held still as Gray's whole body tightened at the mention of the name and the small, chimey giggle that slipped from Juvia's glossed lips of pure bliss. He didn't move when Zeref's thumb stroked her cheek, removing a smudge of dirt from the soft flesh.

It was Erza who spoke first, her voice beginning to fail on her. "What do you mean? Juvia! What is the meaning of all of this? Get away from him, now!" she practically begged.

Juvia, on the other hand, cooed into Zeref's palm like a joyous kitten. Zeref chuckled at her action and then released her face. "Still as affectionate after all these years, I see. I know I definitely missed that about you."

"Juvia…" Gray whispered under his breath, his heart hammering against his chest. Even though it was barely audible, Juvia blinked and looked to Gray with a childish expression on her face, like she accidentally broke something and was discovered.

Zeref noticed Juvia's gaze and smiled. "I take it that you've been playing with these people for a long while, right Juvia? They don't know what's happening, do they?"

Juvia's lip twisted into a tiny pout, shaking her head. Zeref chuckled darkly as he dropped his hands to the side casually. "What about back on Tenrou Island? Weren't you the one chasing my unconscious body for a while back then?"

"Gray-sama wanted Juvia to keep track, so she listened," she answered, her cheeks flushing as if remembering that. "However, when Juvia didn't succeed Gray-sama's order, she wasn't punished."

Zeref's dark eyes casted down to Gray, his lip going into a sinister smirk as he voiced his disapproval. "That's no fun…"

"JUVIA!" A voice - perhaps Lyon? - shouted to her.

Juvia, however, reacted like a scolded child at the voice, actually stepping behind Zeref and peeked over his shoulder. Zeref stood as her protection willingly, even as his hand came up to briefly brush through her blue hair. "Now, now, my dear," Zeref cooed sweetly, calming Juvia down a little.

"I suppose you are all still learning about my creations," Zeref chuckled to the group. "I would like you to meet one of my demons, Etherious Keyes."

"Keyes is _dead!_ " Gray snapped.

Zeref shook his head, waving a finger to him. "No, you are mistaking _Keith_ for Keyes," he said with narrowed eyes. "You see, so long ago, one of my Etherious craved something that they couldn't obtain easily by themselves. My other, much earlier creations, Deloria, asked of me to make him a creature for him to nurture and raise after seeing so many other beings having their own of what they called their offsprings - or _children._

"He was specific, that's for sure. What was it…" Zeref pondered for a second, glancing to Juvia for a moment before regaining his memory. "Oh yes, he wanted something that would be fragile and soft like a _human,_ but would never break under his hold. He wanted it to have emotions so he would observe different feelings and behaviors other than humans he were about to kill. He wanted a child to call his own…"

Zeref carefully guided Juvia to his side, both hands planted on her developed hips as he rest his chin on her dirty shoulder. "Keith and I, we created a body together that was a mixture of a human and something that can never be broken no matter how much you tamper or taint it. An element that will always remain in the driest of deserts, if you dig deep enough, and would remain even...after an apocalypse, you could say."

Grasping Juvia's wrist in such a tender way, Zeref had Juvia's fingertips release beautiful ribbons of water into the air before regaining the solid form of her digits. "Water was the best choice out of everything else, considering...how fire seem to have its own thing.

"When she was physically born - my beautiful, sweet, sweet _Juvia -_ Keith took it upon himself to name her _Keyes,_ after himself, like a surrogate mother of some sort, since she is part of him in a way. Not counting that Keith supplied the fetus," Zeref shrugged. "I didn't mind it, but Deloria certainly did."

"Juvia, this can't be true!" Gray shouted at her, taking a step forward with his hands in tight fists. "Say it isn't true! This has to be some sort of sick joke, you hear me?"

The said woman's face twisted uncomfortably, not saying a single word as she looked away from her crush and to her feet. Zeref sighed with a small smile and kissed the side of her head lightly. "It's hard to believe that my Keyes has grown into her own person after all this time. You've grown up very nicely with the water and Keith's touch."

"Thank you...Zeref," Juvia said shyly, her cheeks flushed as she closed her eyes. Standing up, Zeref confronted the crowd with a dominant, leader-like expression as he rest both hands on Juvia's hips once more.

"Considering Keith's touch, when I heard that Keyes was still existing, I took it upon myself to look for her by myself. She certainly prefers me compared to other demons," Zeref informed the Mages. "Obviously, if I brought my army along we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Keyes is _dead,"_ Gray repeated darkly, venom dripping from his lips. " _Juvia killed him,_ you lying mother fucker!"

"Even if _Keith_ was considered to be her mother," Zeref spoke slowly, " _Keyes_ didn't particularly like Keith in general. It may have to do with Deloria or the two of them bickering for my attention…"

"Juvia is better than Keith!" she suddenly snapped, a sassiness in her voice that Gray would recognize from when Juvia used to have a 'rivaling' challenge with her guildmates. However, it was somewhat different in the curl of her snarl, like she wasn't entirely the Juvia he had come to know from the beginning. Her eyes appeared to be more deadly, inhuman-like too, but it may just be Gray. "Juvia is much _better_ than Keith in the end! She killed him all by herself! He was a cheater _and Juvia hated him_!"

"Of course you're better, _Juvia,"_ Zeref praised with a glimmer in his relaxed eyes. His hand snaked up to her belly and his thumb stroked her coat gently to calm her down. "You never liked it when Keith would perform necromancy without my permission in the first place, didn't you?"

" _No!_ Especially when he took Silver-sama and used him! Juvia didn't know it was Gray-sama's _father_ either," she shouted, her eyes swelling with tears. " _Juvia didn't know!_ Juvia hates Keith so much! He made Juvia have to kill Gray-sama's father!"

Gray watched slowly as Zeref collected Juvia into his arms, pulling her to his chest as she began to let a few tears slip from her angered eyes. Watching as she hid her face into the enemy's neck and growled in frustration until he held her so delicately. "Don't be angered, dear. You killed him and now he's gone. He thought it would make me _happy_ to get as many dead bodies for an army, but you knew better, Juvia. You were always better than Keith because you _listened to me."_

Something snapped in Gray then, something about the sight before him made him conjure his Ice Make: Excalibur and launch himself towards at Zeref. It was only then he was sprayed with boiling water back into the gravel forcefully, melting his ice and burning his skin before stopping completely.

Heads shot up to the woman with her arms outstretched and standing infront of the dark Mage in a protective stance. Her eyes nearly glowing with pure danger and teeth bared with seething rage as she breathed heavily. Her stare at Gray as he slowly got up with the assistance of a few men, disbelief in his eyes as he stared back.

"Juvia respected Gray-sama to _defeat_ Zeref," she announced, her voice different. More sinister and deeper. "She never accepted Gray-sama to _harm_ Zeref! _No one harms Zeref but E.N.D.!_ That's what Zeref wants!"

" _Defeat_ me?" Zeref raised an amused brow. Coming to Juvia, he glanced over her to look at the heaving Fullbuster getting to his feet. "You were going to allow that man to try and defeat me, Juvia..?"

Observing only the light scalds on Gray's skin, Zeref smirked bigger. "Ah, I see. You like that human down there, don't you?" he whispered and curled a finger through Juvia's long hair. "If you were doing that to any other person, they'd have their flesh melting right off their bones. You normally don't spare lives around me, Keyes."

Juvia's shoulders quivered and Zeref instantly comforted her with a kiss to her temple. "Ah wait, it's Juvia," he corrected himself. Pressing another kiss to her head, Zeref sighed. "Mm, I suppose that's the price I pay for giving you emotions, isn't it? It's what Deloria wanted anyway."

"J-Juvia…" Gray spluttered, ignoring his skin as he tried to take another step towards their way and instantly stopped when Juvia growled darkly at him.

"Shhh, don't be so upset with him, Juvia," Zeref said affectionately and out in the open for every ear to hear. "It pleases me to know that you have another who has your heart, it makes it even more entertaining for me to see him try to fight for you.

"However, this looks more like a tragedy romance for what you've done to my dear Juvia," Zeref went on, stealing a peek at Gray's stiffened body. "Considering that Deloria was encased within ice for a long period of time, and Juvia here was searching and studying whatever she would to free her _dear father…_

"It's just a shame that Deloria was killed by a certain Guild team a few years ago," Zeref said casually and pulling away from Juvia completely to let her drink up the information.

The woman blinked once, twice. Her arms laxing as she looked up to her other creator with a confused expression. "Papa is..? He's not in the ice anymore? H-he had time left before -!"

Zeref shook his head. "The news never reached where you were residing in at the time, dear, but a Guild team shattered his ice," Zeref glanced down to Gray. "The ice that only Ice Mages who practiced under Ur Milkovich could remove themselves…"

Juvia's head snapped Gray's way. Their eyes locked for a long moment as Juvia let out in a quiet voice, almost like a ghost's whisper.

"You killed...my papa?"

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=xxx

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - Hahahahahahahahahaha… Haha... Sequel may or may not happen. I was full of angst and now it's all gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title -** Screams From Everywhere II

 **Characters -** Juvia Lockser, Etherious Keith/Keyes; Gray Fullbuster, Zeref Dragneel; mention of others

 **Genre -** Semi-AU, Angst and Drama; Etherious!Juvia

 **Rating -** High T+

 **Summary -** If they cheated, she was going to cheat, too. It was only fair for the game they were playing, after all.

 ****EXTRA FUN - I still recommend the** _ **Battlefield 4 Remix of Run This Town**_ **for this work. Try it out if you haven't yet!****

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=xxx=

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Screams from Everywhere II

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Juvia's father wasn't the perfect creature, she knew that. But, despite of all the things he did to villages and people's lives, he was still the only one who raised Juvia and loved her for who she was first.

Deloria would tell her stories of when she was 'born', thanks to Keith and their master's hard work and dedication of making the Etherious demon wish come true. Keith created the fetus by himself - a sort of complicated thing demons would do without bringing their gender into it, if they had one; Juvia guessed that Keith _could_ have used dead bodies to conjure the initial ingredient to make her, but she prefered to not consider the idea of being taken from a dead woman or wherever and neither did Deloria. It was made in Keith, however, truly making him her 'mother' in a way, with or without the 'regular' way to produce an offspring.

Demons were complicated at the very beginning.

Even so, with Keith being Juvia's _mother_ and daring to name her Keyes when she was originally intended for Deloria, she hated him. She didn't like the fact that Keith never left the deceased alone, using them as puppets when they still maintained their human emotions and memories of when they were once alive to do his bidding. Many times has she complained that to Zeref growing up, and the dark Mage agreed with her that it wasn't fair to humans to be used that way, like cattle.

Like demons, humans were just as complicated and terrible in Juvia's eyes, but displayed it in different ways. After her beloved father was encased inside this foreign ice material that even she couldn't break with all of her power, she was found by locals and taken to an orphanage. She would count all the times she was bullied for her emotional troubles of causing rain and missing her dad so much, how she was ignored during mealtimes and field trips because she was "too gloomy". As much as she wanted to have her father there with her, curled up in his giant claw and have him cradle her close for warmth and telling her stories, she endured it all for the sake of her father - to find a way to get him out of the ice and reunite with him.

It was gone when Juvia discovered that someone opened the ice Deloria was trapped inside, killing him before she would even say a word to the creature she called father.

And it was _Gray_ who did it.

Discovering roughly a year ago, during the battle with the Tartaros Guild, of when Keith resurrected Gray's father for his own purpose, Juvia felt conflicted of battling her mother-figure after reuniting with him. The whole experience of Silver using telepathy with her and requesting her to finish the job left a large mark on her heart at severing the chance of having a father and child being together once again…

Juvia could feel that mark on her heart was slowly disappearing as she looked at her beloved with conflicted eyes.

"You...Gray-sama killed Papa?" her voice quivered.

Zeref's hand placed itself on her shoulder and gave her a small squeeze. "I'm deeply sorry for your loss, my dear. We attempted everything we would to bring him back, but his body was destroyed beyond what we would handle."

"P-Papa..?" Juvia's face slowly drew to a blank, expressionless canvas.

Gray inhaled as he tried to reached towards his nakama until a sharp splash of water shield him into place. Erza came up behind him to pull him out of the way and closer to the crowd. He stared wide eyed at the blue haired woman as she glared to the crowd, her eyes completely changed to a deep, pained blue with no white visible and a slight glow. Her teeth bared and just appeared to be sharper than usual, but not really pointed.

"Juvia!" Gray called out to her, seeing tears spilling from her eyes as she straightened up and began rubbing under her eyes. "You don't understand! This isn't you, Juvia! Deloria _killed_ my parents!"

Shaking her head repeatedly, Juvia wiped her tears more. "He was Juvia's _papa!_ It's _Gray-sama_ who doesn't understand! You don't know anything about Papa!" she screamed at the group. "You took Papa away from Juvia!"

"Juvia, don't worry so much, my dear," Zeref soothed to her. "He's not trapped in the ice anymore. There is no pain for him anymore, Juvia."

"Gray-sama doesn't _know!_ Gray-sama doesn't understand that it wasn't Papa's fault! It was Keith's fault, _all his fault!_ " she screamed louder to no one in particular, yet everyone was listening. Zeref carefully had to hold onto Juvia's upper arms to keep her from jumping off the crumbling building, refraining her from physically attacking them. "Keith took Juvia away from Papa! Papa was afraid for Juvia! Papa just wanted Juvia back!"

 _She was young at the time and seeing snow easily took away the annoying figure that was hovering over her. She had never been up north before and she took the downside of being taken forcibly by Keith while Deloria was out of their hideout to observe the interesting terrain. Being at the edge of a town in the mountains, Juvia didn't really want to ask_ Keith _to bring her into the town to see what it was like._

 _She would never give him that pleasure of attention._

" _Keyes, stop kicking your feet," Keith ordered in a blunt tone as he turned his skulled head her way, pointedly looking to her kicking, bare feet against the rock._

 _Juvia snarled at the demon. "Papa will not be happy you took Juvia again!" she declared strongly. Even though she was a small child at the time, her voice did justice of future promises of pain to her captor. "Papa is going to tell Zeref and Keith will get in trouble again!"_

 _Keith was unfazed by it, like the other times that he forced this game upon Juvia to partake in angering her father at her absence. "As of right now, I am not following Zeref's command. This is something for myself to benefit from."_

" _Selfish!" Juvia accused and pointed a finger at him. "Zeref won't like this either!"_

" _Really, I don't understand how Deloria can tolerate your voice," Keith openly said, turning back to the overview of the quiet, relaxed town. Juvia wondered if the humans were turning down for the night or even relaxing in their homes - like she_ wanted _to do with her father. "Zeref could have made you mute, Keyes, and I'm sure he'll get sick of your voice eventually."_

" _Juvia is named_ Juvia!" _she snapped at him. "Papa named her Juvia, not Keyes!"_

" _Deloria didn't_ make _you either, remember that, Keyes."_

 _Juvia stuck her tongue out at his back and crossed her arms. She didn't like being away from her father for so long and she hoped that Keith would eventually get annoyed or bored with her presence and release her from their little hideout. It happened the last time Keith did this, so she hoped that the continuing of kicking her feet and huffing would run his patience thin._

" _Juvia doesn't want to play this game anymore! This game is no fun and it only makes Papa mad!" she announced stubbornly._

" _It's not a game this time, Keyes," Keith responded coolly, his head turning to scan the town more efficiently. "This is something I need your father's help with, with or without his consent and this is the only way I can get him to cooperate the way I want him to."_

 _In the distance, a loud, echoing roar pierced through the air, catching Juvia's attention at the familiar noise of her father calling out for her. Juvia perked and leapt off the rock to Keith's side, looking around until she noticed the silhouette of Deloria in the distance, marching his way into view with his horns and piercing blue eyes._

 _Juvia would easily tell that her father was angry._

" _Juvia is going to Papa now! Papa won!" she stated, taking a step out of the little spot the necromancer brought her to. Keith's skeletal hand dropped itself on her head and pulled her back, nearly making the demon child stumble._

" _Not yet, Keyes."_

" _No!" Juvia whined angrily. "Juvia hates Keith, she wants Papa! Leave Juvia alone!"_

 _Keith casually pushed her back enough for her to fall on her bottom, her rear planted in the rocky snow as she growled at him. "It's a shame that I can't kill you easily. I should really figure out a way to end you when Deloria isn't looking or you turning into water."_

" _Papa loves Juvia, and so does Zeref," she retorted truthfully. "If Keith took Juvia away, then Keith is in even bigger trouble! Zeref would definitely destroy your very existence if you took Juvia away!"_

" _Ah, but then I would revive you and make you properly quiet and obedient, considering you're not human," he told her, as if a mocking insult._

 _Juvia's eyes narrowed. Looking out, she noticed how her father approached the town with a thunderous cry of rage before the first swipe of his giant claws. Frowning, Juvia didn't like how Deloria tore up the pretty looking clock tower - it was something she looked at for the past few hours now and has grown quite fond of it. Screams began rising from the lit town as more lights came on and the falling debris of the tower collided with other buildings._

" _Why do you make Papa do this?" she asked in a low voice, watching as Deloria roared once more as a stream of ice and snow magic shot his way. He easily dodged it, but that doesn't go without him returning the attack with his claws. "You take Juvia away from Papa and hide here by a town or village. Why make Papa so angry all the time?"_

 _Keith looked down to the child, but she kept her eyes sorrowly towards Deloria. Considering her curiosity, Keith straightened his back and watched as Deloria built up Magic Beam in the back of his throat. "I find it rather time consuming to make my own corpses. This way is much quicker and I always find better ones for my use when Deloria does the job for me."_

" _Zeref said no more human corpses!" Juvia reacted, her eyes widened. "You're making Papa do something horrible and unfair!"_

" _Human life in general is unfair, Keyes. You'll learn that someday. However, as I have said before, this has nothing to do with Zeref," her 'mother' reminded her stiffly. The explosion of Deloria's Magic Beam caused an impact of wind and the scent of fire and smoke, but Juvia remained staring in horror at Keith. "Deloria can make death quick for my experiments, since I have a habit of enjoying one's suffering...it makes an interesting story."_

 _Juvia stood up, looking between the burning town, shrilling screams of terror and up to Keith. Clenched fists at her sides, Juvia's eyes began to glow with the similar rage and anger that her father currently held; kicking her leg upward, she sent a sharp stream of water at Keith, despite knowing that it wouldn't harm him in the slightest as it went through him and damaged the rock at the end._

" _Juvia won't play this game with Keith! Juvia is gonna take Papa and we're gonna play a new game that won't hurt humans!" she screamed as loud as she would before taking off down the rocky trail of the mountain. Keith didn't chase her this time and let her dash through the snow and jump over boulders, disappearing from his sight as Deloria conjured another attack of Magic Beam._

 _Keith watched with a passive demeanor as Deloria struck the other half of the town, flames igniting into the air and barely-visible bodies were thrown into the sky. With this current state of destruction, he was sure to find some perfect experiments for his personal project._

" _Human stories can end abruptly," he said aloud, "but it is I who can begin a new chapter. The game hasn't even started yet."_

"Juvia hates this...Juvia was _happy_ with Gray-sama and Fairy Tail! Why did Gray-sama kill Papa?" she sobbed outloud to him, her tears falling down her cheeks as she tried to keep her breathing regular. "Juvia thought she would be happy with Fairy Tail and someday bring Papa! You were Juvia's family!"

Gray stiffened when Zeref held her even closer to his body, his face appearing to be consoling with her loss and emotions. It was when Juvia's eyes snapped open as she sadly stared to the crowd, pointedly to Gray.

"You treated Juvia like Keith did to Juvia!" she hiccuped, truly heartbroken.

"What?" Gray gasped in confusion along with other members of the south team.

"You _used_ Juvia in this game! Juvia wanted to love everyone and be happy in this game, but you used Juvia!" she screamed at them, another layer of tears building up in her empty eyes.

"Juvia, my dear," Zeref hushed her tenderly. "It's not too late to continue the game. You just have to come with me and we will play more fairly that way. How does that sound?"

"DON'T TALK TO HER, ZEREF!" Gray shouted at him upon hearing the dark Mage's suggestion. "Juvia! Listen to yourself, you're talking crazy! It was never like that with us! We're nakama!"

"My dear, listen to them. You know how your father and I always said that humans were difficult creatures. You did your best to play with them, but now I think it is the time you come home with me," Zeref told her. "We have a lot of things to do now, and I need your help."

Wiping her eyes once more, Juvia sniffed and closed her eyes. Her lip pouting as she thought it over and nodded at Zeref's request. Gray shouted his rejection of the idea but it went unheard to the blue haired woman as she tucked her head under Zeref's chin, clinging to his cloak with both hands as she cried quietly in his hold.

"JUVIA, NO!" Gray screamed in terror.

Zeref lifted Juvia into his arms, carrying her with a familiarity that made Gray question on how close the two were in the past. Resting his cheek against her soft hair, Zeref glanced to the crowd below them and offered an empty, effortless smile.

"As I promised, I wouldn't hurt anyone at this time. I posed a time-out for the time I came for her," he said casually. "I have collected what I was looking for and I will take my leave…"

" _JUVIA_!" Gray ran towards the wall, ignoring the calls from his companions as he tried to reach out to the blue haired woman.

The pair disappeared like a fading memory, leaving the group of people alone in the remains of the town.

=xxx=

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Juvia," Zeref spoke to her in that tone of voice she remembered very well. The voice she loved listening to as a child next to her father telling her bedtime stories, however she guessed her favorite sounds have changed over the years and even to recently.

Standing at the remnants of a familiar building far, far away from where she was only mere hours ago, Juvia stared expressionlessly to the ashy grown as she slowly got on her knees with a perfect posture. Dried paths of her tears stung her face and her eyes were sore, but she kept her fully-blue eyes opened without needing to blink. Her fingertips barely touched the ground, feeling the dirt.

"Juvia lost her papa by the hands of the man she loves," she said plainly, more to herself than to Zeref who was still listening. "She just wanted Papa to meet Fairy Tail and maybe then he would be happy and retire…"

"You still love that man?" Zeref blinked, genuinely surprised.

Her shoulders slouched a little, feeling guilty. "He took Juvia's rain away," she whispered. "Juvia can't help it, Zeref. She didn't mean to share her heart with another man who isn't Zeref, honestly, so please forgive me."

"I don't mind that, my dear. I prefer having competition," he smirked. "What was it you called it as a child between you and Keith? A love rival?"

When she didn't answer, Zeref looked to her again to see her still in her spot on the ground. Frowning, the man tilt his head to her in consideration. "Juvia, you don't need to do this if it won't make you happy."

Juvia raised her arms straight out, her palms upward as she closed her eyes. "Juvia wants to play," she said. "Fairy Tail is strong, and Zeref's men are very weak. Juvia wants to play fair with Fairy Tail and let them see what happens when you hurt Juvia.

"If they killed Zeref's demons like in the past, then they can kill Juvia somehow, right?" she asked Zeref through gritted teeth, the ground beneath them began to rumble lowly. "Juvia wants to play Zeref's game, too...it sounds like fun."

"The one I'm playing with E.N.D.?"

A tear slipped down her cheek as a tired smile crept to her lips, giving Zeref his answer. The dark haired man returned the smile with his own. "Are you going to play with that Ice Mage, my dear?"

"If Zeref wants to die by the hands of the one he loves, then Juvia wants the same with Gray-sama," she stated, her hands clapping together in a fierce noise, the shaking suddenly coming to a halt. "Juvia knows to keep everyone else busy, so we need help."

"I never thought you would ever use your _mother's_ power for this game, my dear."

Standing back up, Juvia kept her hands together as she kept her head bowed. "This is only for you, Zeref. This is really for your game while Juvia plays her own…"

Snapping her head up with a determined glow in her eyes, limbs of claws and dirt came flying up as figures crawled themselves out of the dirt. Bodies snapping their bones back into place, skin stitching back together into ghastly scars and eyes popped open and glowed red in a forced awakening.

Kyoka bent backwards, letting out a long, airy gasp before relaxing and settling herself properly in her clawed feet. Tempester coughed out a mouthful of dirt and shook his torn head before sighing. Ezel simply snarled once he got his head out of the ground, spitting until he was able to get his arms from the ground. It took all of the risen forms a moment to realize what had happened, looking to the blue haired woman who remained passive of their resurrection.

Glancing to her master, Juvia's cheeks slowly blossomed to a shy blush as Zeref stared at the risen demons in awe. "Does this please you, Zeref?"

Zeref took a blissful breath as he looked to Juvia affectionately. "You did a beautiful job, my dear. Now we can continue to play the game."

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - Stresssssssssssss.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title -** Screams From Everywhere III

 **Characters -** Juvia Lockser, Etherious Keith/Keyes; Gray Fullbuster, Zeref Dragneel, Lyon Vastia, Meredy. Mention of others.

 **Genre -** Semi-AU, Angst and Drama; Etherious!Juvia

 **Rating -** High T+

 **Summary -** She isn't going to let it go so easily, and she'll drag down whoever she wants to get what she deserves. She doesn't care anymore.

 ****EXTRA FUN - Highly recommend you listen to Catie Lee's version of The Weeknd's** _ **The Hills**_ **on Youtube (not the lyric video since the poster did not have permission to publish that video) for this chapter. Careful watching if you can't handle flashing lights or have epilepsy - I know I couldn't, but the music was very fitting.**

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=xxx=

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Screams from Everywhere III

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Juvia remembers fighting Keith like it happened yesterday. She relived that battle every night she closed her eyes and hid it from everyone.

She remembered how her 'mother' thought he would kill her and reanimate her body to his whim; telling her how emotions were useless qualities of humans (heavily implying Zeref's touch when he created her alongside him years ago for Deloria), how she would make a wonderful addition to his corpses like a collector item…

He underestimated how strong Juvia had grown to be, how Deloria _raised_ her to fight with the element she was created with.

To Juvia, it didn't feel like she killed her mother, therefore she felt confident in herself that she was smart enough to understand the definition of human love. How, no matter what form it takes in and the major separation between a parent and child, or even soulmates, bonding of love could never be severed. She thought she discovered how to live with the humans by understanding that kind of emotion…

And now, as the clouds shield the sun and a thunder rumbled in the distance, she realized how far different she really was from being close to humans.

Losing her hat and jacket after reuniting with the Tartaros Guild (those she bothered to bring back, by _her_ choice), she looked over the distance of Zeref's mass army and followers readying for another wave of battle in the city. She could make out the crumbling buildings in the background as the rain began to come pouring down, wetting the land with Juvia's unshed tears.

Honestly, she ran out of tears to shed from her eyes. The sky truly did her justice of how she really felt on the inside.

Familiar hands crept up her shoulders and pulled her to the side of a strong, ageless body. Blinking, Juvia glanced up to Zeref overlooking the scenery as well, his expression more or less pleased of the numbers and additional strength set on his army.

"Juvia apologizes for the rain," she mumbled, her cheeks turning a bit pink in embarrassment, looking down to her feet.

"I rather enjoy it. It expresses a lot of true colors of people," Zeref said simply, looking her way as she sighed quietly. "Like now, it tells me that you're feeling conflicted."

"Zeref only knows that because he helped make _Keyes,"_ she corrected him in a flat voice. Her eyes remained like her father's', deep blue with a soft glow emitting from them. Mentally, she was glad that she was created more in Deloria's image rather than her _maternal_ creator.

"Why is it that my dear _Juvia_ is conflicted?" he asked her.

Shrugging, Juvia wrapped her arms around herself and relished the feeling of the rain dripping down her bare arms. It feels like it had been forever since the rain was like this - recalling Gray's absence and how it made her sick - and yet this time she welcomed it with desire. "Juvia doesn't know who she truly is now, considering that she seems to have failed as a demon and a human, there isn't much left for Juvia to be here, is there?"

Zeref watched her carefully, his face unable to answer her when she peeked at him. "Juvia knows she was really created to be Papa's child and nothing else, but she was also made with being a demon in mind with feelings.

"When Papa was gone and the humans took Juvia to the orphanage, she played human with them instead. Juvia didn't want to go back to Zeref or the rest of the demons," she confessed. "Juvia used what she was made of to be seen as a human, yet there were so many obstacles and judgemental humans who didn't like Juvia. Meeting Gray-sama and joining Fairy Tail, Juvia thought she found the place where she belonged."

Her nails digging into her pale skin, her eyebrows furrowed with a hint of anger and hurt. "Juvia would wait to free Papa from the prison and have him meet Fairy Tail. He would have retired being the renowned Demon of Destruction and maybe pass on peacefully knowing Juvia found another home. But...Fairy Tail took Juvia's papa away, and the very person Juvia thought she _loved."_

"But you still love him, don't you?" Zeref tilt his head. He watched her tense in the shoulders and allowed him to wrap an arm around her for a support. "You possess more emotions than the rest of my demons, Juvia. You are more territorial and possessive of your feelings towards specific people, you know."

She nodded in agreement, looking up to the view once more. "Juvia played this game for a long time, Zeref. With everyone she has met since Papa couldn't be with her until now. And now, Juvia wants to play one more game before she wants to go to sleep...like Papa and Keith."

"The game I'm playing with E.N.D., but with that man, correct?"

"Yeah, just him," she nodded. "Juvia is going to do whatever it takes to keep playing with him, whether he wants to or not. He doesn't have a choice anymore."

Zeref's smile was empty, but he bent his head and pressed a brief kiss to her wet hair, twirling a finger around a loose wave before letting her go completely to stand straight. She had marks from her nails on her pale arms, but she ignored those little imperfections on her body as she snapped her wrists into formation, her hands posing as sharp claws and her shoulders ready.

"I hope you get to win, so I can see your face once more," he told her proudly.

Juvia offered him the same empty smile, shrugging her shoulders. "Juvia would wish the same, but really...Zeref is getting rather old."

Zeref watched her jump off the ledge of the stakeout and arrange the revived demons and packs of soldiers to head out to their designated areas, Juvia leading her army running towards back to Hargeon.

=xxx=

Apparently Juvia knew how to resurrect the dead like her 'mother', and she brought back selected Tartaros Guild members to lead armies with a newfound strength and energy that no one was expecting. Things were getting harder and it was all because of one Fairy who tore her own wings off.

Erza's team split back to the city they came from, attempting to break down the army that didn't have a demon leading them. It looked to be that Juvia broke her mass collection to keep Erza's squad and Mermaid Heel busy with Dimaria, who obeyed Juvia rather quickly and willingly.

Crime Sorcerie seemed to have joined the fray as well, considering that Meredy popped out of nowhere and saved both Gray and Lyon from an incoming sneak attack from behind. It looked that Meredy knew of Juvia's reveal, appearing to be somewhat hesitant to strike someone who had long, blue hair until she knew it wasn't her old friend.

When the said missing woman did appear, Gray was willing to admit that he was a bit awestruck and haunted by her entrance. Her whole face expressionless as she broke through a pit of fighting, striking the good guys off the soldiers with a mass wave of water, including the trio, back a good distance before forming her body with her lineup.

Once her lifeless eyes set him, however, she grinned wickedly.

"Juvia!" Meredy called out, breaking into a dash towards the water demon with tears swelling in her eyes. "Juvia! It's me!"

"Meredy, don't -!" Gray tried to catch her in time before Juvia reacted to the woman's approach.

A sharp snap of a water whip, Meredy shrieked in pain as she stumbled to the ground. Meredy stared in shock as she pressed a hand to her now bleeding stomach, crawling backwards as fast as she could when Juvia took a dominating step forward.

"J-Juvia, it's me!" Meredy begged desperately. "You remember me, don't you? I'm Meredy! It's okay, Juvia, I'm still your friend!"

Juvia's arm raised and she struck Meredy once more, sending the pink haired woman flying with another harsh cut on her shoulder. The soldiers behind Juvia applaud her with roars when her arm came back down, going limp with boredom.

"Juvia has no friends," she said once the voices died down. Her voice was different, he noticed, more empty and emotionless…

Just like when he first met her while she was in Phantom Lord, but much, much more darker.

Lyon reached to Meredy and pulled her up to her feet, supporting her with a protective rage in his eyes. "Juvia-chan! Get your head together! This isn't _you_ , and you know it!"

" _How would you know?_ " A voice came shouting from behind them.

Spinning around, the group of mages sought Juvia tilting her head far enough to crack with anger. Some of them looked between the Juvia behind them and the one with the soldiers, only to realize that the one latter was a fake, breaking down into water and blending in with the rain that was pouring down. Gray didn't take his eyes off her as she grew angry, her teeth baring.

"You know _nothing_ of me!" she declared over the rain. "You don't know who Juvia truly is!"

A member of Gray's group snapped then, breaking out a sword from their belt and charged at her without warning to either side. The man screamed a battle cry as he readied to strike her -

And then, like she was doing a _beautiful dance,_ Juvia flowed her hands in a ballet-like move and twirled. In a manner of moments, water struck right _through_ the mage in different angles before coming to a halt, her skirt swishing around her. The man froze, his back to his side of the war, before red liquid spilled in large quantities and unfamiliar chunks of organs landed on the soaked pavement.

The man fell to his knees before collapsing, dead from Juvia's assault.

With a flick of her wrists, Juvia stood straight and had her hands on her hips. "Try that again," she said with a venom in her voice, her lip twitching with sick amusement. "Juvia can show you how she really is if you keep it up."

No one responded and Juvia grinned bigger. "Now that you will listen, Juvia wants you all to go and take the battle somewhere else. Juvia claims this area and she doesn't want to play with all of you."

"What!" some of Gray's members shouted in shock and confusion. Gray's whole body stiffened when he watched Juvia tuck a lock of her wet hair behind her ear, blinking slowly as she met his stare with her own.

 _And her eyes softened._

Reading her unsaid message, Gray growled under his breath and spoke in a thunderous voice. "Go on ahead! I got this!"

"Gray, no!" Lyon refused angrily, holding up a sobbing Meredy who clung to his cloak, looking to Juvia with sorrow. "You don't know what she's -!"

" _I SAID I GOT THIS_!" Gray shouted at him, a familiar spark emerging deep inside his body. He hadn't felt this way since he destroyed Deloria or concluded his plan to defeat E.N.D. once Zeref was taken cared of. "Get out of here!"

Lyon watched Gray for a moment, most likely hoping he would change his mind. When nothing came up, Lyon swore under his breath and demanded the attention. "Everyone keep going forward! We're not giving up yet, you hear me? Show 'em what we're made of!"

As everyone followed Lyon's order and charged towards the soldiers Juvia brought with her, the white haired man struggled to drag Meredy with them. She tried to reach for the distant blue haired woman, crying out to her desperately.

" _Juvia_!" Meredy sobbed. "Juvia, don't you remember what you told me all those years ago? _Live for the ones you love! Don't you remember that?_ Come back, _Juvia_! I can't give up on you!"

Once the battle pushed its way further from the two lone individuals, Gray kept his eyes on the woman ahead of him with hands balled into fists. He watched her carefully as she brought her hands behind her back and swayed her hips girlishly, her cheeks bubbling in a cute smile before giggling.

"You got me, Juvia," Gray announced to her. "Give me all you got, you hear me?"

Juvia's smile was more innocent, more gentle and so much like _Juvia_ upon hearing those words that it nearly tore his heart apart. She went light on her feet, twirling around and began skipping down the ruins of the street, away from him. Gray blinked before chasing after her, calling her name with irritation.

Normally, if this was just a normal day between them, it would be the other way around. Gray couldn't bring himself to think that twice, instead kicking up his speed when he saw Juvia round a corner with a graceful twirl and out of his sight.

Coming to an opened, deserted street in half ruins, he found her sitting casually on a pile of bricks, her feet kicking in amusement as she smiled at him. Gray caught his breath as he stood his ground, being cautious for any more of her fake forms or illusions she would make in the rain - this wasn't like what she showed while he trained with her back then. It was definitely a new definition of Juvia Lockser no one has seen before and he certainly didn't like it.

"What does Gray-sama think?" she spoke out finally after a long moment of silence and intense staring. Her voice was light, as if she was relaxed and pleased to be away from the crowd of people and the battle that can be heard in the distance.

Gray's eyes narrowed. "Think of what?" he snapped at her, seeing her respond with a little shrug and grinning brightly. "How you're a creation of Zeref and turned the tables on your friends?"

She shook her head slowly, as if taunting him. "No, about spending time with the offspring of a demon who slaughtered your childhood," she spoke, her smile growing bigger as her glowing eyes sparkled with delight at his stiffened form. "How you spent years working alongside a monster whose father killed your parents when you were just a little boy. Nothing left but dead bodies and blood on your hands when you were just a poor, weak little boy."

"Juvia, knock it off," he bit out in a low voice, but she didn't appear to hear him as she crossed her legs and poised herself more lady-like in the rain.

"Then, your mentor practically gives up her life for you because your head was consumed with the idea of chasing after that demon - and _my father_ for that matter. Trapping him in a ice block while her body was shattered with the sacrifice she gave for you so you can grow up," she shook her head. "That's a shame, really."

"Shut _up!"_ Gray's fists tightened as his voice grew. Juvia noticed his growing rage he was bottling inside.

"Or even the fact that one of the creators of Juvia actually resurrected your father," she went on, her voice louder than him. She was piercing his thoughts and mind as hard as she could with her volume. "A man who was brought back to life with all those feelings of how much he loved his son and wife. That Juvia's mother took your father's body and brought him back to life - all with his _memories and love_ he held for his beloved son and dead wife, only to die again when Juvia took it upon herself to feel pity for the _puppet_ …"

"You're not like this Juvia. Knock it off!" Gray shouted at her, taking a few steps her way.

She didn't move a muscle. "Juvia wants to know how it feels that a family of demons was the cause of all your sad chapters in life," she spoke sweetly that it raised his heart rate with fire. "And yet, Gray-sama had no idea that he spent so much time with Deloria's _very own daughter_ all this time. You held a demon's hand, you comforted a demon! The very last and proud Fullbuster, who swore that he would take down any demon of Zeref, was _friendly_ to Juvia!"

" _I SAID KNOCK IT OFF!"_

He didn't remember conjuring his ice, having them sharpen into angry arrows and aimed straight to Juvia's still form. He didn't mean to actually attack her this way, but his thoughts were spinning with past memories and Juvia's words that he just got to _angry,_ he didn't realize until it was too late of his magic unleashing the daggers at her.

Each sharp ice struck her, yet she remained passive and calm as her water body responded to the attack. Each blade that passed through her body melted when it exit her back, the last one was stuck where her heart was and she boredly looked down and reached up to slowly pull it from her skin.

Gray's eyes widened in horror as he saw her examine the shard of ice before crushing it with her hand only. Looking back his way, Juvia smiled as she carefully helped herself up to her feet. His body was still pulsing adrenaline and rage through his veins, his breathing erratic as he heard her voice like it was on a clear day.

"Juvia wants to play a game," she said, her grin absolutely demonic. "If Gray-sama isn't able to defeat Juvia, then Juvia gets to kill _everyone else!"_

He then saw red all around him.

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - Never underestimate the cute ones. They can easily be evil. I mean, just look at me -pepe face-


	6. Chapter 6

**Title -** Screams From Everywhere - Finale (IV)

 **Characters -** Juvia Lockser, Etherious Keith/Keyes; Gray Fullbuster.

 **Genre -** Semi-AU, Angst and Drama; Etherious!Juvia

 **Rating -** High T+

 **Summary -** Just close your eyes, and you will feel better.

Last part of Etherious!Juvia. Hope you enjoyed the emotional constipation I was going through, but I'm feeling a lot better now after ruining fictional characters' lives!

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=xxx=

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Screams From Everywhere - Finale

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He was getting tired.

No matter what move or attack he would throw at her, no matter how much effort he put into chasing her, pinning her down, freezing her still, she would get herself back into a happy dance as she began shouting details of how she was going to kill people by name.

Drowning Erza earned her to be sliced in half by his ice sword. Ripping Lucy and Wendy apart got her lower half frozen against the wall. Reviving the Strauss siblings' parents to murder them in their sleep made him try bashing her head in. She even went as far down the list to go to other friends he had made in other Guilds, like Lyon in Lamia Scale and Sabertooth's Dragon Twins.

She was working him up, getting him more angry by her words, yet he was finding himself growing tired and weaker the more he fought her.

Eventually, when Juvia used her water magic to slam his body against the wall, Gray fell to his knees and remained there, struggling to breathe. The rain continued to pour over him, actually making him feel cold for once in his young adult life and he had to hold himself with his hands from falling to the rubble.

He heard Juvia's heels approach him, yet he didn't want to attempt another attack on her. The only damage he was able to get on her was tearing her skirt and slicing some locks of her hair; her skin wasn't bleeding or she was showing signs of being tired, and he cursed himself for the rain and her revealed power.

Rolling upward, Gray's naked back hit the brick wall behind him, giving them little support as he gripped his knees tightly. His eyes opened, seeing her legs facing him with a little jut of her hips, cursing under his breath at how she is still managing so much energy after so long of fighting with him.

Crouching infront of him, Juvia's eyes didn't glow as much as it did before when she was excited fighting him. Grasping his strong, tense jaw, she directed his face to look properly her way, letting her examine all the tiny scratches and cuts he obtained from her end.

Pouting, Juvia's brows furrowed. "Is Gray-sama getting tired already?"

His breathing was still out, pulling his chin out of her grip and glaring at her. "I _don't want_ to fight you, Juvia. _This is ridiculous_!"

The blue haired creature smiled warmly at him. "Games usually are ridiculous, Gray-sama," she told him while waving a finger. "But Juvia likes them and she's not tired yet."

"Why…"

Juvia blinked curiously, her smile never faltering as she tilt her head to him. Gray took a deep breath and bonked his skull against the wall, staring at her with a desperate exhaustion. "Why are you doing _this_ , Juvia? You know your better than this, don't you? Even after all of this, you're still _Juvia."_

She shook her head. "That's not true, Gray-sama. Even after all of _this,"_ she stretched her explanation to the damage they both caused in their area, "Juvia is still the last remaining demon of Zeref, if you have forgotten. Juvia is not the same Juvia _Fairy Tail_ recalls. She's not even the same Juvia Zeref knew, it's all different for Juvia."

"You don't have to do this," he pressed through his teeth.

"Actually, Juvia does," she corrected him stubbornly, flattening her palm upward as if offering an invisible gift to him. "Juvia has to do this and so does Gray-sama, otherwise everyone is going to die."

"You wouldn't kill your nakama!"

She smiled bigger at him. "Yes, I would. Just like when Juvia killed that stupid human who thought he could take Juvia on alone? Everyone is a faceless prey to Juvia if Gray-sama doesn't defeat her, may I remind you. That's how _our_ game goes."

Leaning close enough that their nose barely touched, Juvia spoke back in the voice he hasn't heard since he first met her, emotionless and distant. "Humans took everything away from Juvia. Juvia has no friends or family, so why should Gray-sama hold back on the monster who ruined his life and has nothing else?"

"What about what Meredy said, hah?" Gray shouted, yet she didn't flinch at his tone. "About living for the ones you love? Huh? You goin' back on your own words now?"

Straightening her back, Juvia rest her chin on her propped hands. "Everyone Juvia _truly_ loved is gone now, Gray-sama. Zeref has been gone for a long time to her, so she is more than willing to let her love for him go; he created Juvia, yes, and Juvia at one time desired his affections and love, but she knew better that she was just a work of his art.

"Papa is gone now, thanks to you," she reminded him. "The only one who saw Juvia as something more than just an _artificial_ being and was trapped in that ice for so long. He took care of Juvia and exposed more of his true nature for her, having to search and fear the worst for Juvia every time he couldn't find her. The one who really understood Juvia is no more than ashes of a faded memory…"

Sighing, Juvia settled herself on her bottom in front of him. "And before you start chattering like a desperate beggar, Juvia _figured_ she would love humans, if she really tried to understand them," she said, a small smile on her lips as she looked to his lost expression. "Juvia tried to overcome obstacles of human's treatment to her, posing as one of them and maybe learn who she really is. She didn't fit in with the other demons, so she gave humans a try.

"However, Juvia was wrong," she frowned deeply, her eyes narrowing at him. "Juvia wanted to love Gray-sama and make him happy, but after discovering that it was _you_ who took Papa away from me… The fact that it was truly _Juvia_ who caused it all, she realized she's not worthy of being either demon or human. She's _nothing_ but a used pile of flesh and magic. She's all alone."

She stood up then, grabbing Gray none-too-gently by his neck and forced him on his feet. Releasing him the instant he would handle his own weight, she took a few steps back and scanned her eyes over him. Her eyes stopped at the mark on his left forearm…

"Use your Devil Slaying Magic," she ordered him, her voice flat.

Gray's eyes snapped open, pain all gone in his body, looking at her with wide eyes. "W-wha... _What?"_

"Use your Devil Slaying Magic on Juvia. You haven't used it yet," she demanded him darkly, turning around and beginning putting distance between them. She was preparing for another round with him, he knew.

But still…

"You want me to kill you!" Gray announced horridly, his voice nearly breaking.

Stopping in her steps, Juvia turned halfway back to him with an empty expression, confirming his thoughts the instant their eyes met. He shook his head in disbelief, eyes wide.

"No," he bit out. "No. No, _no,_ you can't be serious…"

"Of course Juvia is being serious," she answered simply, a shrug of her shoulders. "Either Gray-sama kills Juvia, or Juvia kills everyone else."

" _Why?_ " he exhaled.

A shy of a sad smile stretched on her lips and Gray swore he saw tears swelling in her dim-glowing eyes. "Because, after all of the things that has happened to Gray-sama, this is really the only thing Juvia can give to you after all she has caused to him."

"Juvia, I won't -!"

"Juvia is not afraid of being killed by Gray-sama," she admitted, glancing to his marked arm for a brief moment. "However, even if it will be done by that mark, Juvia will endure it no matter what."

Turning around fully, Juvia posed herself like a welcoming lover, yet her eyes were nowhere of the same. "Don't think Juvia will let you leave the game, Gray-sama. We need to play fairly or it won't be nice to kill everyone else just because Gray-sama chickened out."

"But -"

"Juvia really has no more patience, Gray-sama. Either you play with Juvia or Juvia will be more than willing to make all of your friends into pretty, pretty toys."

With that said, she snapped her fingers and caused the puddles around her to slowly rise into water formed claws.

 _The first time she saw the mark, her chest twisted in fear that maybe she had done something to activate it._

 _All she was doing was picking up Gray's stripped clothes, lightly chiding how he shouldn't let them get dirty after she just washed them. She thought that maybe her close proximity and being too calm with her surroundings made Gray sense something was going on. Juvia's throat burned with a held back scream at the black arm and the cracked designs just shy of tickling his collarbone…_

 _When Gray didn't seem to pin it on her, she felt a little bit more safe. He couldn't really pinpoint a demon unless they outright said it, right?_

 _Seeing it made memories flood in Juvia's head. About her father, her old crush and all the other memories she recalled spending time with Deloria as a child. She remembered that she's not who she says she is, or what everyone else thinks she is._

 _Juvia could feel every time the mark was activated. It sent out a menacing, threatening aura she would detect naturally from inside the house or down the street of the town they visited once in awhile. Gray would sometimes try to hide it from her with his coat, but she could still sense it…_

 _She hated that mark on her Gray-sama._

 _Before he would leave Juvia in their little home for half a year, she was caught staring at it from her spot in the corner of the living room while he was napping on the couch. She couldn't help it, having that mark radiate such dangerous promise of ending her life by a mere touch or pinch frightened her that she didn't realize that Gray woke up and caught her._

" _My dad gave it to me," he said._

 _Juvia stiffened at being caught, yet she didn't say anything. The knitting project she was working on slowly came to a halt as Gray sat up on the couch and faced her. "When he...you know, left, he passed on this mark to me. It's Devil Slaying Magic."_

'Juvia knows what it is,' _she thought sorrowly to herself. Not like she was going to say that outloud to him. If anything, she thought Silver had really blesses his son before his departure of this world, wherever humans get to go when they die._

" _I know you've been worried about me with this thing, but I'm fine," he told her in his usual tone of voice. "Don't worry about me, okay?"_

'It's not you I'm worried about with that _thing_ , Gray-sama.'

" _Okay," she said, slowly nodding as she looked down to her yarn and fiddled with a loose end._

" _Does it bother you?" he asked her._

'Yes. Juvia hates it.'

" _No, Gray-sama. It just worries Juvia a bit," she lied beautifully, offering him a sad smile but still not looking to him._

 _He seemed to consider that answer, yet he waited a moment before asking his last question before he would disappear while she slept. "Are you afraid of me with it, Juvia?"_

" _No. Juvia is never afraid of Gray-sama," she answered, only because that was the truth._

 _It would be a half of year before she saw him again, embracing him when she saved him from a strange woman attempting to get his affections. She hugged him for a moment, all too happy to be with him to acknowledge that she was in such close proximity of the mark itself._

 _She didn't care. She's not afraid of Gray-sama._

When he didn't attack her anymore, falling to his knees and stating he has given up, she declared that Gray lost the game in a strong voice and proceeded to go and collect her winnings. She turned around and began making her way towards the distant battles with full intent on carrying her word.

She didn't have a choice, she was running out of options to get him to actually follow through with -

" **ZEROTH LONG SWORD!"**

A blade emerged from her chest, startling her for a moment before looking down to see a long blade push its way further out of her chest. This felt completely different from any other attack he pushed on her. While her body would naturally formed into liquid or heal itself instantly, her body began tingling and a zipping pain emerged from where the blade was.

His hot breath fanned her wet skin, the cold rain making her shiver at the change of temperature while her hands slowly reached up to touch the sword. Her lower lip trembling as her eyes grew wide with delight.

The ice sword dissipated before she had the chance to feel what it was like with her hands, making a soft whimper escape her lips as her knees buckled. The numbness was spreading throughout her body now and she was feeling fairly cold.

Gray's arms instantly wrapped around her, catching her in a cradle as they both fell to the ground ungracefully. She blinked at the movement and was situated for her to be able to look up to see his face, her breathing becoming more shallow but she didn't mind it.

Eyes pouring tears heavier than the rain she made, Gray's teeth were digging deep into his lower lip as he shook his head. His torso jerking with each sob that ripped through him, but Juvia couldn't think of a more perfect place to be right now.

"Juvia," he croaked. "Juvia, no… _No, no_."

She couldn't resist but smile, a blossoming smile as she reached up with a shivering hand to cup his jaw. His grip on her body tightened at the feathering touch, but she was too numb to really care. Juvia felt very pleasant at the moment.

"Gray-sama wins," she said, her voice coming out surprisingly airy and far away. Her hold on his jaw began to fall, but his larger, much _warmer_ hands caught it and pressed it hard against his cheek and shaking his head harder, his eyes widening.

"Juvia, no!" he half shouted and half cried. "I can't lose you, Juvia."

It was her turn to shake her head, but hers was much more slower and harder. Her head felt really heavy for some reason. "No, you're not losing anything. You _win."_

"I don't want to win," he bit out, burying his face into her freezing palm, leaning forward and trying to hold her closer. "You can't _leave me_ , Juvia. I won't allow it!"

"This is fine. This is what Gray-sama deserves from Juvia."

" _THAT'S BULLSHIT!"_

Juvia went quiet for a moment, letting him scream out before holding her face closer to his, hiding his tears in her hair. She didn't mind it, but it confused her that he wasn't willing to let her go to have her draw her last breath as the monster she really is. However, she won't force that question on him.

"My answer…"

She blinked, watching him raise his head just the littlest bit to press his forehead against her own, his hand that was holding hers cradled her face and he rocked gently.

"My answer is no, Juvia. Please, don't do this to me," he begged her. "My answer is _no,_ do you hear me?"

" _Hey Gray-sama?"_

" _Mm?"_

" _You think, even after Fairy Tail is long gone, and we're not a Guild anymore...would you leave Juvia?"_

" _... Go to sleep, Juvia. We'll talk about this later."_

Frowning, Juvia took a painful breath and huffed. Her breath tickled his face, catching his attention quickly as he opened his eyes. "Now that's cheating, Gray-sama."

"Don't," he growled. "This isn't a game anymore!"

"No, it's not," she admitted in a soft voice, legs completely limp now. She can't feel below her waist and her heart was pounding harder, and for what? Juvia didn't want a quick death, she wanted it slow and painful as possible. She wanted it to be painful.

She wanted to cry in pain and torture, not being held so close to the human she still really loves with all her being. To Juvia, she didn't deserve this kind of sympathy from a human; where was the ghost of her past counting all her sins as her life withers away? Did demons get that or were humans only able to have a secretary of their lives?

A noise eventually took her out of her thoughts, tilting her head down to see the fatal wound on her chest beginning to sprout beautiful red chunks of ice. Blinking, Juvia watched as it shattered another layer towards Gray, latching onto his arm and making an obvious injection into his skin as he winces from the shot.

"Gray-sama," Juvia spoke, trying to wriggle her way out of his hold. She tried raising her arms to remove the chunk of ice off his arm and push him away, but his arms wrapped around her were too tight and she was losing feeling in her arms now. "Gray-sama, the ice. You need to get away, something is wrong…"

He shook his head, pressing his temple against her hair as she watched with round eyes when hand that held her face slowly slipped down her neck to her shoulders. Whispering under his breath, another spark of ice sprouted but from his fingertips, the matching color of Juvia's wound.

" _What are you doing_?" Juvia hissed with worry, her voice in a slight gurgle when her wound shot ice down her body, like the nerve system of the human body, encasing her legs and lower belly. "Let go of Juvia!"

"I gave you my answer," Gray whispered harshly, his face slowly coming up for her to see some kind of determination in his eyes, making her shudder in fear. "And I plan on keeping to that, whether you like it or not. I'm not leaving you alone."

"W-what are you doing?" she shivered. She couldn't move her arms now, her hands crackling with red ice.

Gray's red fingers sprouted more ice, touching the skin of her shoulders. "It's not the same as Iced Shell...but it won't hurt as much as it really should. It stings a bit."

Her breathing quickened with realization. "No, Gray-sama, you can't do that," she whimpered to him, trying to move. "You're not suppose to die with Juvia!"

"I'm not leaving you alone," he snapped back at her. "I left you once and you didn't deserve it. You never deserved to be alone, Juvia, do you hear me?"

Tears swelled in Juvia's dimming eyes. "Gray-sama was suppose to live without his demons, Juvia included," she told him. "Juvia wanted to give Gray-sama was he wanted, to be even with the ones who brought you so much pain..!"

"You don't get it, do you? I forgive you. I forgive _you,_ Juvia," he confessed to her.

A tear slipped from her eye, her breath hitching and the ice crept up to under her breasts. Half of his torso was covered with frozen red and she couldn't help but want to pick every piece off of him. "You shouldn't…"

"But I do anyway," he retorted with a layer of his casual snarkiness that would have made her giggle on any other day. "I'll forgive you million times over while you're stuck with me."

A sob slipped from her lips and another shot of ice began to envelope them. Gray looked to her with a soft expression, his hand coming up to brush the tear track with his thumb. "Juvia?"

Juvia was trying her best to not cry infront of him, her mouth twitching into a sad smile as she looked up to him with such affectionate eyes. "I'm sorry, Gray-sama…"

Her voice was very quiet, but it held so much love and affection that Gray would practically feel coming from her as he returned with his own half-grin. Her smile widened as more tears fell, him holding her closer to his chest, closing her eyes.

It took only a few more minutes before the red ice covered their bodies, Gray holding her close as he whispered more of the spell to make it work faster to lessen the chance of pain (for her when it reached her neck, she began wincing at each ice that trickled its way upward). He eventually got used to the prickling sensation at that point, resting his head against hers and gentle calmed her whimpers of the pain since she couldn't move her body any longer.

The ice eventually shattered once everything went quiet, the rain slowly lessened and people felt a sudden change in the air during the battle. Nothing was left of the red ice or the two bodies it contained.

The rain finally stopped.

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - Still feels too happy of an ending -grumbles intensely-


	7. Chapter 7

**Title -** Etherious (Gruvia A-Z: E)

 **Characters -** Juvia Lockser and Gray Fullbuster

 **Genre -** Romance, Sexy Time, OTP; Semi-Canon verse, Etherious!Juvia

 **Rating -** M

 **Summary -** They say that love hurts. It's a good thing he likes pain.

This is kinda like an alternate version of Etherious!Juvia, if she were to remain with Fairy Tail, unlike in Screams From Everywhere (I-IV). If you haven't read the prior chapters or has seen the Etherious!Juvia on my tumblr, then you may be a little bit confused.

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=xxx=

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The war was over for years and everything seemed to be back to what it once was, only with the difference upon the discovery of some of Fairy Tail members' origins. Not counting how the Dragon Slayers were from over four hundred years ago and Natsu was actually END and Zeref's younger brother, or even how Mavis and Zeref used to be lovers before he accidentally killed her with a kiss…

Besides all of those details, that didn't matter much to a particular Ice Mage anymore.

Since the war ended three years ago, Gray had come to terms on quite a few things: First, his best friend was END, and was basically over four-hundred years old. Second, he admitted his feelings for a particular Water Mage woman who he has remained in a healthy, stable-yet-crazy relationship with since the battle…

And third, that Juvia Lockser was an Etherious, created by Keith the Necromancer and raised by Deloria, the demon who killed his family and childhood.

As luck would have it, Juvia was a particular Etherious who was more compassionate and curious for mankind and Mages in general. Despite all of the issues between her kind and Fairy Tail's history with her species, the demon woman had developed a deep enough love and adoration for her Guild - her home, thus resulting her to remain with Fairy Tail and rekindle all of her relationships into a much stronger bond. As said before with _point two_ , Gray had come to terms with himself and with Juvia together, and he will admit that he is far more happier than he ever had been in his life…

Well, he's been happier with many things, but some specific things still got under his skin pretty quickly.

"We got another complaint from an employer," Erza said softly as she glanced to the couple standing before her. "The one where you two went to retrieve kidnapped children for slavery."

That job had gone off flawlessly, thanks to Gray and Juvia, who entered the village to collect clues and finding the disgusting gang who had the village children tied and dirty on the ground. Both Gray and Juvia took charge in breaking the gang's formation with ice and water; taking down the goons while the boss stayed closer to the children.

Once Gray and Juvia had taken care of the henchmen, the boss held a knife to one of the children's throat, sparking Juvia's instinct to protect and shed her human appearance long enough to scare the man half to death. The criminals were obtained, the children returned to their loving, safe homes and the job was completed…

"The village wasn't...aware that I had sent Juvia to rescue the children. They were told by witnesses of the criminals and children on what they saw." Erza folded the paper that was sent and set it on the table professionally. "They are not pleased to have had no knowledge of who I was sending."

Juvia bowed to head to Erza. "Juvia is deeply sorry, Erza-san. Juvia should have told them in advanced or -"

"Tell them they should be grateful that we saved their kids," Gray snapped and crossed his arms, making Juvia jump at his tone of voice. He ignored Erza's warning stare as he let himself let go. "Like, for _fuck sake_! It's been _three years_ since the war and we've said it over and over again that Juvia is nowhere near dangerous as what we've encountered. People need to get over it! She saved those kids!"

"Look Gray, I know how you feel about some people's opinions and feelings about Etherious, but we know more than them that Juvia is a part of Fairy Tail." The redhead pointed her finger at him with a warning, her eyes sharp. "You behaving that way won't get you anywhere with the subject. I was going to say that I plan on writing back and telling them that they have nothing to worry about and can let it go."

Gray snorted and rolled his eyes away from her as she glanced to Juvia, her expression much more softer and kind. "I just wanted to let you know that we're not letting them think you are of any danger, Juvia. You're in no trouble at all."

"Thank you, Erza-san. Again, Juvia apologizes...she should have done better at masking herself from the enemy."

"It's nothing to apologize for," Erza smiled and dismissed the couple. "You two have been working hard with jobs lately. I think it would be best if you two took a break for a while - enjoy your time together and relax for a bit."

Before Gray could call Erza on her own lies to them, Juvia bowed her head again and spoke instead. "Thank you, Erza-san. We shall take a break and will await your call."

=xxx=

"Why did you do that?"

Walking on the gravel pathway to their secluded home outside of Magnolia, Gray waited until they were far away enough from people's ears and eyes to bring it up. After the war, Juvia felt better living outside of the city rather than inside; something about how she didn't want to annoy any of the citizen - who show no ill behavior towards her since the discovery. Having their relationship to the point that they lived together, Gray didn't mind the seclusion and privacy he shared with their cabin. He loved it infact.

Juvia glanced to him, seeing how his face was tense and stiff his shoulders were. "What does Gray-sama mean?"

Stopping in his tracks, Gray waited until she slowed down and looked at him. He was fuming with his rage, yet kept his voice cracked and shielding his yells. It wasn't a good idea to make his anger echo through the forest and scare anything within the distance. "It's not right for Erza to give us time off, just because people can't seem to get the pole out of their ass! Seriously, how many times have you saved people before they found out you were an Etherious, huh? Tell me!"

Juvia sighed softly and turned to her lover. "Gray-sama, please. Juvia doesn't want to stress about this - Really, Juvia is perfectly fine."

"Well, I'm not!"

"Juvia understands that," she told him honestly. "But, as Erza-san has said...you can't control people's opinions. It doesn't matter if Juvia saved people or not, they still have past nightmares of the other Etherious and the war."

Gray scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Unbelievable! I can't believe you're siding with the idiots! What if it was me, huh? What if the clients complained about me, just because they were scared of me with my Devil Slayer powers!"

"It's not possible," Juvia shrugged. "Because everyone knows that Gray-sama was born human and raised human. Juvia was not and she lied to her Guild for years about her true self."

Gray snarled in anger, making Juvia approach him and offer him a small smile. "Gray-sama, Juvia is so used to being rejected, even when people thought of her as human. This is nothing new to Juvia. The best thing we can do is take Erza-san's advice and take a break from the public, so everyone knows that we are listening."

"It's fuckin' stupid."

"Perhaps to some, but Juvia would much rather do as she is told and play it safe." Reaching with the tips of her fingers, she touched his cheek and made him look down her way. "Juvia won't complain about it, and neither should Gray-sama. You don't have any burden of this, it's all Juvia's problems."

Blinking when she got on her toes and kissing his nose cutely, Gray would normally let that go and be content with her free spirited self, but not this time round. Watching her go on ahead the small pathway, Gray's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You know what some people have said of you, right? That you could try and revive Etherious to take over the world?" Gray attempted.

"Mm-hm," she said and waved her hand in dismiss. "Juvia and Natsu-san joke about it all the time. He says he wants to wear a better cape than Zeref."

"What about how they say you look monstrous in your other form?"

"All of Juvia's friends say she looks as cute as ever, and she's never heard Gray-sama complain!" she grinned and he cursed under his breath. Yeah, how many times have Gray told and showed her how much he loved both appearances of her? Too many times.

"You don't mind Juvia's other form, do you, Gray-sama?"

Blinking, Gray looked towards his lover to see her looking over her shoulder as he resumed to follow her to their shared, cozy home. "Huh?" He was extremely confused by her now, if any more dumbfounded as when Erza learned how that she had been playing table pool all wrong.

Once reaching her side, he noticed how her cheeks grew pink and she refused to look him in the eye. "Juvia's other form...does Gray-sama mind it at all? Even if it's scary and gross?"

Okay, now he knew he screwed up.

Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. "Do you honestly think, that after all these years we've been together, that my opinion on how you look really matters?" he asked her somewhat defeated.

"Of course it matters," Juvia frowned at him. "Juvia isn't what most would call 'average' in _species_ , if she must remind how you had a hissy-fit with Erza-san."

"Oh, so now we're back to how I got an attitude for something people can't seem to get a hold of!"

" _That's not what Juvia is talking about_!"

Gray looked to see Juvia catching herself in time to cover her mouth, her hand covering any sign of her sharpened teeth exposing as she tried shutting her eyes to hide the black, beady eyes that sometimes shined a light depending on her emotions. Her shoulders tensed and slightly shaking, he knew she was trying to fight it.

Ever since her true form was shown during the war, Juvia has allowed herself to change back and forth around those she is most comfortable with during the times of her emotional struggles. Back when she shut out all of her emotions, it resulted the weather to change to expose her distress or depression instead of changing appearance. As much as she knew Gray didn't mind it, the conversation was obviously making it difficult for her to choose what she wanted to do.

Gray knew that it hurt, that was for sure.

"Juvia, c'mon," he tried as he opened his arms to her, letting her know that she could come closer to him. Taking a step towards her, he was stopped by the flat of her hand and pushed back. "Juvia, please, don't think -"

"Juvia doesn't care what the world thinks of her. She can care less if the whole world is scared of Juvia," she said in a change of voice, more airy and tense, whenever her form was changing. "What Juvia does care, is if Gray-sama minds the way she is, if he really loves all of her or not." Dropping her hand from her mouth to her chest, she gripped her coat tightly and cracked her eyes open to reveal the smallest evidence of tears forming. "If Gray-sama sees Juvia as a kind of _monster_ when she changes, then just say so and Juvia can just…"

She wasn't expecting to feel the alarming hand of his Devil Slayer mark spreading across his arm to grip her chin gently. It sent a chilling, threatening tingle up her jaw and down her spine, making her breathing quicken.

It was only natural for her to react that way with his mark, ever since he first activated it. It wasn't that she was afraid of Gray, not at all, but it was just the way the mark works against her to set all her nerves on end, wanting to make her become more animalistic with biting, scratching, _dominate_ …

Juvia squinted one eye to try and hide the changing of color from him, and kept her mouth shut from showing the growing fangs.

"Show me then," he demanded her in a quiet voice.

Shaking her head in confusion, Juvia's brows creased. "Wh-what..?"

His eyes bleeding to a bright red she had only seen a few times since they've been together, and her heartbeat quickened. "Show me all of you, and I will prove to you that this shouldn't matter, Juvia."

A few times has Juvia seen Gray's Devil Slayer form was very rare, mostly because after Gray found out about Juvia's reaction to it he would only use it very little. It wasn't anything that was dangerous to Juvia at all, unless that was his intention, but it forced her body to react slightly against her will - as if all her instincts were taking over.

But now, with what he is trying to propose to her while using his mark, it didn't seem something she should try and kill at the moment. Instead, it was a challenge that held promises of nothing but for her to let go and be with him.

Still, she can't risk it.

"No, Gray-sama. It won't be safe," she told him half-heartedly as she pulled herself out of his careful grasp. Rubbing her eye, she kept her head low as she approached their home and entered through the door after unlocking it. "Juvia doesn't want to hurt Gray-sama in any way, especially with...her other self."

Going over to the closet, Juvia kicked off her sandals and set them neatly on the shoe rack they had inside, fully aware of the pulsing aura of the Devil Slayer coming close behind her after he closed and locked the door, as routine. She didn't fight against it when he carefully held her hips with both hands and pulled her back to his chest, pressing his lips lightly to the back of her ear, making her shiver in a unknown delight that held the other half of herself she didn't want to expose to him in that way.

Juvia had to bite her lip with her sharp teeth to suppress a growl.

"I'm not fragile, Juvia, I promise," he whispered into her ear. He pressed another kiss to her ear and slid a hand to her belly, his thumb brushing the area. It was only when she felt the zipping tingle of alertness that it was Gray's inked hand. "You always have been there for me, you know that? For anything and everything you could do for me, you've always made it better, even when I have been the bad guy in the scenario."

Turning around slowly in his arms, Juvia peeks up to him with a slight shrug. "To put it simply, Juvia is a kind of monument to any of Gray-sama's sins," she said softly. "Gray-sama doesn't need to contain himself with so much sins, so Juvia would take it away as best as she can."

His normal hand came up to cup her cheek, and she felt better with that hand as she willingly snuggled against his palm, leaning her head to the side. "You make me sound like some kind of conquering king or something."

"In a way, Gray-sama is the _only one_ who can get so close to Juvia with her consent. Not even Zeref could have kept Juvia in one place, if he tried; he may have helped to make Juvia, but he could never have Juvia like Gray-sama can. No one but Gray-sama can," she explained softly, her eyes fluttering close when he brushed his knuckles against the swell of her cheek and along her jaw.

"Then why do you worry about something that is so small like this, and not just let it go with me?" he asked her gently.

"Because it's not small to Juvia. Juvia could accidentally injure Gray-sama badly, or even kill him." Opening her eyes, she looked worriedly to him. "Sometimes Juvia wishes she could let it go, but...she does not want to hurt you. She doesn't want you to be afraid of Juvia."

"You could never hurt me, you know that. It's not in you," he told her and made a point to brush his inked hand up her side slowly, making her shiver uncontrollably. Once his fingers barely brushed the most vulnerable part of her body - her throat - she released a airy gasp, her chest heaving.

Normally, she would react to anyone else by attacking to defend herself. But, with Gray, she couldn't raise her hand morphing into sharp claws to resist. "You see? I'm not scared of you and I don't _ever_ want you to think I see anything different than the one I confessed to, got it?"

He leaned his head down so their lips barely touched, knowing the closer he got to her the more she could sense his Devil Slayer. "Juvia, listen to me."

A voice that held promises and pleasure, a kind of voice she wanted to control with that power trying to dominate over her. The inked hand coming up as her jaw dropped to exhale heavily, his thumb brushing her lower lip as he observed the smallest visual of her sharpening teeth - not in fear, but in curiosity and interest. "Look at me, Juvia," he whispered in a sultry voice.

Bleary, fading colors with a rising glow emitting, Juvia looked to him as his regular hand slowly slipped up her shirt, feeling her firm abdomen and soft skin. "A- _ah_ …"

His red eyes piercing her, he raised her shirt high above her breasts, exposing her black laced bra. "Let go and give me _all_ of you in a way no one else can," he ordered. "Do what _Juvia_ wants to do to me."

She pounced.

Gray wasn't expecting it, his back and head colliding with the hardwood floor of their home with her ontop, gripping his collar in a vice grip. Her legs caged him from lifting his hips as she stared him down with glowing eyes, her breathing hard.

"Gray-sama...tells Juvia when to stop." Her voice was cracked, as if conflicted with herself upon her internal transformation, making her swallow thickly as she looked worriedly to him. " _Please_. Tell Juvia...when she needs to _stop_."

His eyes softened as he reached with both hands to her shirt, helping her tug it over her head and drop it beside them. Never leaving his intense, yet gentle stare while his hands slowly roamed her exposed torso, making her shiver again and let out a gasp when his black hand traced its way up the valley of her breasts.

"You've seen who I am, Juvia. I want to see who you are, whether the world accepts it or not," he told her as his hand slipped to the back of her head and brought her lower to him. Letting his lips brush hers carefully, a normal thing he did before they go to work on each other carefully, he wanted to give her that sense of familiarity that this was still _Gray_ , inside and out. "I trust you with all of me, Juvia. Please, trust me with all of _you_."

Raising his head, Gray kissed her with a tilt of his head and enjoying how she made a soft noise at the action. Tugging on his collar, she lightly bit his bottom lip with her sharp teeth, feeling how Gray momentarily stiffened before deepening the kiss when she brushed her tongue lovingly against the bite mark. He could taste the slight flavor of blood in his mouth, but he didn't mind it one bit by how she was stealing air from his lungs so painfully well.

Attempting to sit up, Gray worked to strip off his coat without breaking the feverish kiss between them. Only able to get one arm out of his sleeve, Juvia wrapped her arms around him and gripped his hair tightly; her thighs closing more on his hips made him remember how physically strong she was when she shed her human form, a bit more rough with her usually-super-shy touches.

Despite being used to her being shy and gentle side whenever they made love, Gray was absolutely willing to adjust to the way she was now.

It felt needy, like she was desperate to cling on to him and do as much as biting him or holding his hair a bit too tight. Their breathing erratic from their kiss, Gray was surprised to have Juvia practically rip off the rest of his coat and dive for his thick neck, giving another sharp bite that quickly numbed to a odd pleasure he couldn't explain. He barely registered her unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off for him.

"Juvia," he breathed when she sucked on his wound and suddenly rolled her hips hard in a motion he enjoyed. Hands holding her hips, squeezing whenever she moved on his lap. Gray dropped his head on her shoulder, kissing the bare skin there as she threw the shirt somewhere and suddenly went more south.

Unbuckling his jeans and unzipping them down as far as they went, Juvia's claws lightly grazed his defined abs to make him inhale sharply at the tingling sensations. He wasn't a ticklish person by any means, but the touch of her demonic form did something different…

Then, he remembered how _he_ was as well.

Sliding his inked hand down from her waist, Gray slowly allowed himself to touch the skin of her thigh, making her suddenly freeze in her actions and hold still when his palm cupped right under her rear. Pulling her leg more to wrap around his hip, Gray slowly moved underneath her, making her shudder and hide her face in his neck - her fingers digging into the skin of his back.

"Is this okay?" he asked her, slowing down his movements and attempted to remove his hand. He knew how sensitive she was to whenever his Devil Slayer magic was activated and too close to her, to the point that it _could_ hurt her. "Juvia, are you -?"

Pulling her head back up, Gray was introduced to something so beautiful, he swore his heart skipped a beat.

Her pitch dark eyes emitted a soft glow, not a fiery, threatening kind he would often see, like when they rescued those children. They were soft, the blue flames flickered like silk as they slipped from her lashes that they nearly matched up. Her cheeks were bright red in a healthy, pounding blush as her lips remained flushed from kissing, a very little faint of red from his blood at the corner of her mouth and the seam as she panted hot hair that tickled his face.

Blue waves and curls an absolute mess, her brows in a eased crease while one of her hands came from his back and gently touched his lips with her fingertips. Breathing through her lips, Gray could see the tips of her sharp teeth just barely.

Her whole body glowed love, and her excited smile as she swiped her thumb across his bottom lip as she spoke in such a voice - trusting, yet with slight pride.

" _Touch me_."

That was how his inked hand found its way under her skirt, pushing her underwear far to the side and slipped his fingers through her labia, stroking slowly until he found her clit and made her head fall back and let out a silent gasp. His Ice magic working its way to lightly chill his finger made her shiver in delight and gnaw on her bottom lip with her sharp teeth; he trailed kisses up and down her stretched neck, lightly nipping and sucking on her pulse whenever she made a soft whine or mewl when he decided to explore her further once again, sliding his finger towards her opening, leaving a pathway of a melting chill right to her core.

A growl slipped from her when a single finger eased its way inside her and his other hand brought down her bra-strap and flipped the cup down, letting him have access to her soft breast. With the sensations of her breast and lower regions being touched with the magic that brought her hyper-aware and sensitive, Gray had to wrap an arm around her to keep her remaining in his lap while she half-rocked on his fingers and encouraged his mouth to suck on her nipple.

She gripped his hair with both hands rather tightly, yet he couldn't bring himself to give a care in a world at how it stung. His chin was practically numb from the bite mark she had given him a bit too hard, and he _loved_ it; even the throbbing scratch marks that he was sure were bleeding a little bit didn't faze him that she had - unintentionally, he knew for sure - inflicted these on him. Made him bleed...made him ache…

Made him **crave**.

Nipping the top of her breast, Gray attempted to situate their position so he was on top. Trying to get her to rise on her knees so he could push her back, he was met with a deep growl that vibrated the both of them, and her hands gripping his shoulders and shoved him hard against the cold ground. Her piercing eyes stared at him with a warning before she grabbed his pants and underwear, yanking them only below his butt and enough to release his cock to the open air that was slowly becoming colder.

One hand coming back to actually keep him down, the other reached to stroke his member hard and slow, making him lose his breath and focus solely on her hand getting to work on him. He felt himself slowly fall under her spell and felt the need to touch any accessible skin she exposed for his hands to touch, grope or fondle to make her respond verbally to him.

Once he felt a familiar build-up in his body, Gray suddenly thrust his hips upward and let out a deep groan. His member only brushing the inside of her thigh, he wanted her to feel how hard and hot he was for her as she whimpered, her hand quivering her hold on him for a moment.

" _Gray-sama_ ," she mewled ontop of him, feeling his hand slip under the cover of her skirt to test her once more, only to find her more wet and wanting him.

"Juvia, let me -" he whispered until she shut him up with a growl.

" _No_ ," she snarled as she gripped him tighter, making him inhale sharply through his teeth in slight pain, yet thrusting into her hand nonetheless.

She raised herself to her knees, her hand never leaving his cock as she guided him to her center, slowly dropping herself as far as she could on him. Gray groaned outloud, breathing harshly at how tighter she was this way, how hot and slick she was on the inside as her muscles constricted around him like a death grip and made his back arch.

Unable to resist himself from watching her adjust to him, her eyes closed and her expression focused and so, _so gorgeous_ as her blush went to a deeper shade of red. Her lips parted to let out a breath, and the faint, smokey exhaled signaled him that everything inside her was now out in the open - everything was her and only he could see and feel about her.

Gray waited for her, letting her squirm around atop of him and move her hips to feel what was comfortable and what wasn't. It hurt him a little bit, but he made himself wait patiently as his hands brushed up her waist, lightly brushing her skin affectionately to let her know he was letting her be in control.

When she opened her eyes shyly, as sudden as it was for her to change her confidence, Juvia reached for him to sit up, letting them become leveled as she wrapped her arm around his neck. He instinctively held her hips and pressed kisses to her jaw wetly, his breathing irregular yet so enticed by everything that was _her_ and only _her_.

Feeling her hands massage the back of his neck, Gray's eyes rolled closed as he listened to her voice like it was a message from the Heavens.

"Gray-sama, _move_."

He felt himself shaking, parts of his body numb from things she has done yet he was more than willing to receive more and take her orders like she was queen and he was no more than the dutiful follower. So tight and warm, Gray kissed her passionately as he forced himself to thrust his hips and hold her hips to help her move with him, each thrust met in perfect sync as ice began to grow underneath them, growing with each groan that slipped from his lips and Juvia's claws scratched the skin of his back, adding on to the collection of red marks that he was going to love whenever he stole a glance in the bathroom mirror.

Resting a palm to her lower back, Gray pulled Juvia further closer to him that their chests touched and rubbed against each other. Sweat was forming on their skin as they locked eyes and his thrusts became more hard, more rougher to bring that friction that left her whimpering and gasping for air; his bruised lips brushing her small chin, he kissed her lips and wrapped her legs around him as he sped up.

Her satisfied cries in his ear, he could feel her coming closer to the edge of release. The hand that was stained fisted into a tight ball with a purpose, finding its way to her skirt and finding her clitoris to pinch. A small, demonic shriek slipped from her lips when he rubbed hard, his thrusts angled just right and the temperature of the room dropped significantly quickly to a chilly breeze.

Juvia sunk her hips deep on him, crying out as spasms of her orgasm took over around his cock, making him grunt at the intense squeeze she gave him then. A sudden change of instinct took over her as she opened her mouth as wide as she could and sunk her sharp teeth into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. It wasn't deep enough to make him bleed so much, yet the pain made his cheeks brighten to a healthy blush and groan his release next.

He clung on to her tightly, his blunt nails digging into her hip and the other holding her head to him as she growled against his skin. A few more of ragged, uncontrolled thrusts, he felt himself drop inside of her with his release as they both spasmed together.

Unlike all their usual, normally gentle love-making or frisky, excited sex, this was so much more powerful. Animalistic, craving, a intense adrenaline punch to the gut and mind as black spots invaded their vision for a moment and cries in response to the intense sensations of their orgasms. They could feel their heartbeats, the blood rushing through their veins and possibly feel every breath that was stolen from a gasp of relief in their lungs.

Slowing down his hips to a stop, Gray felt pleasantly numb in all the right places with her ontop of him. His eyes closed and nose buried into her hair, he registered after a minute that her sharp teeth were still in his skin as she shook off the remainder of her orgasm.

A gentle smirk on his lips, Gray held on to her and resisted himself to become aroused again as best as he could whenever her muscles spasmed and squeezed him. Kissing her shoulder and running his hands up and down her back as he whispered against her skin.

"Good girl," he whispered so lovingly. "Such a good girl, Juvia…"

Gray knew she was trying to regulate her breathing and relax her jaw. Slowly, she pulled out her teeth from his skin - resulting him to stiffen for only a second at the pinching pain to brought - and exhaled tiredly. Nuzzling her forehead to his cheek, she rest her head on his shoulder, absolutely spent and exhausted.

He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Are you feeling okay?" he asked in a whisper.

"Cold…"

Lifting her as best as he could, Gray exited her and settled her back on his lap. Leaning back a way without letting her go, he took his coat and draped it around her bare back; holding her closer as she snuggled into his clothes, he chuckled at her content sigh at being pampered with such a simple solution.

Raising her head, Juvia let him see the little tears that fell from her eyes as they slowly shifted back to the usual orbs he normally would see on any given day. He wiped them away with his thumbs, knowing that it was normal for her to shed a couple tears from something so intense as what they had just done, so he wasn't worried. Her lips and chin had more faint stains of his blood, looking perfectly abstract from her pearly white skin and light blue hair, yet he used his sleeve to wipe it away next.

Juvia looked at him and frowned sadly, making him blink. "What's wrong?"

"Gray-sama is bleeding," she told him, her teeth back to their flat points. She reached with one, shaking hand to the bite mark on his neck, the bruising pinches along his jawline and to the redness on his lower lip and chin. "Bleeding a lot…"

He offered her a half-grin as he took her wrist and kissed her fingers. "They don't hurt, Juvia."

"Please don't lie," she narrowed her eyes at him and he gave her his naughty smirk.

"If anything, I'd love you to _mark me_ more often," he slurred seductively, stealing a kiss from her lips to surprise her. A brief touch of his tongue inside her mouth and carefully nipping her lips, Gray rest his forehead against hers and affectionately nuzzled her. "These kind of scratches are a kind I like, especially coming from you."

"Juvia has never made Gray-sama bleed that much before," she pouted, yet her cheeks bled pink in embarrassment. "I mean, Juvia has scratched Gray-sama's back while we did it before, but not so much where you bleed!"

"I find it hot," he winked at her. "And they don't hurt as much as you might think, really. It actually gave me a lot of sensations that ended up being quite pleasurable for me."

Seeing how she didn't look entirely convinced, Gray licked his bottom lip and pulled her even closer to his embrace. "How about you? I didn't hurt you with my mark, did I?"

She seemed to think that over, looking down between them as she unbuckled the belt of her skirt and pulled it away from her left thigh. There, without revealing that her underwear was still shoved aside and dirty from their activity, were forming bruises of where his Devil Slayer hand had gripped her tightly. Gray blinked, never seeing such dark bruises form so fast like that.

"Do they hurt?" he asked sincerely. Retracting his mark fully, Gray brushed his clear thumb around the edges of the bruise with absolute gentleness.

"They feel a bit tender, but they don't hurt as much as Juvia thought they would…"

"I'm sorry," he apologized and Juvia looked at him in confusion. "I thought if I didn't use the magic part of my mark, it wouldn't hurt you in any way."

"Juvia's skin is rather sensitive to the mark in general, physically or not," she explained to him and he nodded. Gray could remember how they had a serious discussion of how she reacted to his mark; what triggered her to feel like she had to defend herself, when it was a bad time to train with it near her or in battle to when it could be triggerish for her to even just sense it on Gray without it fully formed. "Even Gray-sama's ice on the stained hand didn't hurt Juvia, it just...made her much more _aware_ and super _sensitive_ to everything around her. Nowhere even close to Juvia being hurt or feeling pain."

"Good. That's good to know," Gray exhaled in relief.

"Juvia is curious, though, why did you keep your Slayer mark out while we were doing it?" Juvia asked softly, her arms coming back to rest around his neck as she knelt to press kisses to the slightly bleeding mark on his neck from her orgasm.

"To keep the Etherious side of you out," he confessed her, stretching his neck for her to have more access to his wound to kiss and lick soothingly. "I knew you would have wanted to change back before your dark breath released, since I know how good you are at _multitasking_."

She pulled back and looked at him in surprise, making him smirk. "You're naughty that way, you know that?"

Juvia flushed and glanced away. "So mean…"

"Still, I also wanted to give you that extra sensitivity to your body, since you seem to become more aware whenever the mark is activated," he shrugged and Juvia appeared impressed by his observation. "Just...wanted you to feel everything as possible, you know? I wanted you to feel that this is still you and me - it's still _just us_."

Holding her cheek with one hand, Gray brushed his thumb under her eye as his eyes softened and a honest smile on his face. "You're still you and I'm still me, no matter what form, see? Do you understand it now that it shouldn't matter what you are, that I still see the woman I love?"

Her eyes widened in a sparkle, her cheeks growing red as she glanced down and nodded mutely, her eyes having a layer of unshed happy tears as a hint of a smile twitched on her lips. "Yes, Juvia understands now, Gray-sama."

"Are you afraid of yourself with me anymore?" he asked her and she shook her head in a immediate response. "Good, because you're still the same Juvia that's all mine to love."

"As Gray-sama is Juvia's to love as well," Juvia agreed and nuzzled into his palm. Her eyes closed as she tucked herself more into his coat and leaned into his warm chest. "Thank you so much, Gray-sama. Juvia loves you so much."

Gray felt himself grow warm inside his chest, his strong arms wrapping around her and cradling her close to his heart that solely belonged to her. "I do, too."

.

.

.

=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - I want fanart of this and I don't know why. Makes me feel like a pervert BUT WHO ISN'T ON THIS SITE, ANYWAY?


	8. Chapter 8

**Title -** Cheater, Cheater

 **Characters -** Juvia Lockser, Gray Fullbuster; Zeref Dragneel, Mavis Vermillion; mentions of others.

 **Genre -** Etherious!Juvia, OTP/BrOTP; Angst&Drama, Hurt Semi-Canon/AU.

 **Rating -** T+/M

 **Summary -** He didn't want to believe it, as much as it was obvious to see how close she was to Zeref…but he didn't want to believe that she was cheating on him.

I told myself I wouldn't write something like this, but I had yucky days and needed to let it out with something. So...bada-bing. Reviews are always appreciated, or just have a wonderful day!

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=xxx=

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There were things Gray Fullbuster discovered that he loved.

He loved his Guild, Fairy Tail, his home and family ever since he was a young kid. It was a place he could go to for support or just to have some fun with his friends whom he calls family; rough-housing, drinking and laughing, it was Gray's safeplace. He enjoyed the place and everyone in it who were part of the guild itself, and Gray loved his home in Magnolia. Gray would protect his guild and his family to death, and only learned this during the battle against Alvarez.

Gray also loved his friends, that was a no doubt. Sure, he could try and kill Natsu every morning he sees him out of brotherly love, or even try to put Lyon in a choke-hold every time he so much as hears his voice, but that's how he showed affection most of the time. With Lucy, Erza and pretty much everybody else who wasn't a paint in the ass, Gray treated them well and would do anything to ensure their happiness and safety before his own.

Gray also loved not wearing pants, drinking beer at Mirajane's bar in the guildhall; he also liked fuzzy animals that make funny noises whenever he poked them (not monkeys) and watching scary movies with a tub of ice cream on the couch in his secluded home outside of Magnolia. Did he mention he liked eating, too, but won't say it outloud to most people unless he wants to be put in the same group as Natsu-I-Gotta-Eat-A-Whole-Farm-Dragneel? Just don't tell people that.

But, even with all the above listed, the one person Gray Fullbuster loved the most over everything listed above combined, was his girlfriend, Juvia Lockser; an Etherious creation made by Zeref and Keith the Necromancer for Deliora, the very same demon who killed Gray's parents and eventually his mentor. For years has Juvia posed herself as a human Mage and blended into society, it took until the Alvarez Empire's attack for her secret to be revealed and some pretty intense thing occurred…

But that's a different story.

Even so, the Fairy Tail Guild still remained strong with their bonds and trials of companionships, thus rewriting the lives of Natsu and Zeref Dragneel, Mavis Vermillion, Juvia Lockser and everyone else they know and love. After losing their magical abilities, Mavis and Zeref joined the Guild and are reconstructing their relationship with each other and live a new life as mortals; Zeref and Natsu were even on friendly terms with each other and are addressing each other as brothers, and Juvia is learning to adjust with her revealed secret with all her friends and boyfriend…

And, _Jesus Christ_ , what a learning experience it's become.

Watching his lovely girlfriend launch from the roof of the guildhall, Gray felt his stomach drop from the sidelines as Juvia appeared to bullet herself into Natsu, who used his arms to block her attack. A wave of invisible energy blew against the small crowd in the Guild's backfield while Juvia and Natsu kept at their pushing game, palms-to-palms.

Gray watched Juvia's eyes darken to pitch black and her lips part in a sort of animalistic, cheshire-looking grin as she pushed harder with inhuman strength, while Natsu stumbled a moment before returning the snarky smile and bursting into flames from his shoulders and his cheekbones grew scales. Regaining his posture, Natsu went back to his equal strength against the blue haired demon. The crowd applaud proudly as they sprung apart, their feet digging into the earth into dust before launching themselves against each other again, this time attempting to kick each other and blocking the other's attack with their arms and locking each other in place. Juvia was able to twist her arm around Natsu's muscular leg while he yanked on her ankle hard, causing the two of them to collide by bonking their skulls together hard enough for a sickening noise to echo.

Juvia growled darkly and Natsu snarled as they tried to overpower the other in their stance until a loud clap made them freeze and turn to see Zeref approaching them with a relaxed composure.

"That will be enough, you two," Zeref said to them with an easy-going smile. "Consider it a tie once more."

Both Natsu and Juvia blinked before stumbling to the ground into a fit of laughter, and the crowd watching them applaud impressively and ventured closer since the training session was over. The flames and scales from Natsu's skin instantly dispersed while he helped Juvia to her feet, which the Etherious demon thanked him with a bright, fang-filled smile. "I dunno, bro. I have a feeling that I was _this_ close to getting Juvia this time, if you hadn't stopped us!"

"Natsu-san wishes," Juvia smirked and pushed her friend's shoulder. Gray walked closer to her as she stretched her arms infront of herself cat-like, her back arching downward as she cracked her neck to relieve tension. Noticing her beloved approaching, Juvia cleared her eyes and teeth in time before reaching out to grip his coat. "What does Gray-sama think?"

"You can always kick his ass, Juvia, you know that," Gray rolled his eyes and unconsciously wiped away a smudge of dirt from under her eye. Despite being in a relationship with her for the last four years, he still wasn't into the whole idea of PDA, unlike some other couples he knows. Still, he can find himself slipping up once in a while with small, intimate touches that could go unnoticed by most people.

"But you did good, too, Natsu," Lucy chipped in before kissing the pink haired man's cheek with a giddy smile, making Natsu snicker rather proudly. Gray flicked Natsu's head and the blonde woman scolded the both of them before they started bickering.

Juvia giggled and snuggled her cheek against Gray's shoulder when he snorted at something Natsu said to him. Gray smirked when their eyes met and rest his hand atop both of hers and stroked her knuckle gently.

"How about we go home and-?"

"Keyes."

In an instant, Juvia left his side and hurried over to man who summoned her in a silky voice. Gray frowned at this and looked up with narrowed eyes as Juvia's back was to him and her hands holding her long skirt in some kind of anticipation as the ex-Mage gave her a look that was _waaay_ too comfortable for Gray's taste in his woman.

As much as there were things Gray loved, there were also things that he _hated_ with every fiber of his being. Zeref being number one.

As far as Gray knew when Juvia explained it to him, she was another creation by Zeref to be an Etherious, as was the revival of Natsu and creation of his demons that he and his Guild took down years ago. Despite the fact that Juvia - from what Gray understood - didn't spend a whole lot of time in her childhood with Zeref, she still had the same reaction to going to his beck and call like some sort of pet.

Ever since the war ended and Zeref surrendered himself to become a better man, it unveiled another piece of Juvia that her friends had learned from both of their pasts. Zeref had a major soft spot for the blue haired Etherious, seeming to treat her gently and never minded her manners and closeness when she learned that he was joining the Guild - hell, she tackled him to the floor and clung to him while he was still injured and he didn't care in the slightest.

Mavis had left a month ago for a personal mission, to see what the world has come to since she was encased inside the crystal and secluded into Tenrou Island, she never had the chance to travel until now. Zeref decided to stay with the safe confines of the Guild, since not everyone in the world still likes the new Zeref - like Gray, for example. Gray would rather prefer Mavis back and keep Zeref away from Juvia, or at least keep him distracted long enough that he doesn't call Juvia over without her keeping his hands off his girlfriend.

When Gray noticed this after learning and accepting his now-girlfriend's species, some kind of unsettling throb in his stomach emerged every time Zeref were to call Juvia by her original name (which Gray knows more than anyone that she _hates_ being called), and she still smiles so sweetly up to him and hugs him whenever she feels like it. She always perks whenever she sees Zeref enter the guildhall or bids him a proper goodbye before she leaves with Gray to their safe, secluded home.

Of course, Juvia would ask if it bothered Gray at all with the attention she gives Fairy Tail's ex-enemy, and, of course, Gray says no.

Liar.

Still, Juvia knew him better and always made up for it whenever they were out of the sights of their friends with tender kisses, snuggling him more intimately and tender, not to mention other things that go on inside their home. As much as Gray enjoyed her attempt to make him feel better, it doesn't really help when the next day, it just happens all over again.

And now here he was, again, watching his girlfriend drop her attention from just him to go to Zeref.

Not able to hear whatever it was the two were talking about, Gray was very much able to see how they were conversing. How Juvia's big eyes looked to Zeref as he spoke in a gentle manner, his hand coming up to rest ontop of her soft hair. Juvia left her hat at home when she remembered that she would be sparing with Natsu today, so it was easy for Zeref to run his deft fingers through her long hair and down her loose curls; tucking a lock behind her ear, he tilted her chin up affectionately when she said something with a smile. Gray inwardly growled at the sight.

After saying something else to her, Juvia nodded in understanding and nuzzled her forehead to Zeref's chin in goodbye. Gray knew that that was an Etherious way of greeting each other - he even has seen Natsu do it multiple times to Lucy, Mavis and Happy. He would only rarely do it to Zeref, though, instead knocking their foreheads together rather bruisingly, yet the older brother seems to accept that just fine.

Juvia left Zeref's side and returned to Gray, instantly clinging to him with her happy-go-lucky smile back on her face as her cheeks tinted to a cute pink color. "Sorry about that, Gray-sama," she said in a voice that always makes his heart do a flip. Noticing the tightness of his jaw, Juvia blinked and tilted her head. "Gray-sama, are you alright?" She reached up and touched his jawline with her fingertips, instantly relaxing the tension. "Oh, Gray-sama, Juvia is sorry for ignoring you before - you said you would like to go home?"

=xxx=

He's noticed changes in Juvia's behavior.

Whenever they would enter the Guild together, Juvia would hear Zeref's call to her and disappear from Gray's sight for a good twenty minutes. At first, he didn't mind it as much since it was just her habit whenever she heard her name, but then it got frequent and the period of time of her gone would extend to the point that he would look around for her. Whenever he did see her in the distance, Zeref was already by her side and talking to her in close proximity, in a way that their eyes stayed locked during conversation and all her attention was on him. His hands would be on her shoulder or playing with her hair (her hair has grown pretty long now, and they were in beautiful curls that even Gray loved to stroke), or Zeref would ask to look at her hand. To everyone else, it looked like normal between the Etherious and her creator in their behavior, but, to Gray, it was too much for him to handle. He didn't like it when men got handsy with his Juvia, to a certain point - but Zeref, to him, was a whole different person _entirely_.

Eventually, she would come back to his side for the remainder of their time, holding his arm and resting her head against his shoulder like she usually does, and he would forget about it for a little while.

Until he started noticing the marks.

One night when Juvia was laying in their bed, wearing pajama pants and one of his shirts that naturally covered most of her arms. On her side and hugging her pillow, half-asleep when he walked in after having taken a shower, Gray pulled on his underwear before climbing into bed by her back and reached over to hold her in his arm.

He kissed her head and she sighed when his hands slowly rubbed up and down her arms. "Are you tired?" he asked in a soft voice.

"A little. Juvia was helping Erza-san and Master Makarov move a lot of things in the storage rooms with Natsu-san and Romeo," Juvia explained in a sleepy voice and Gray made a noise of understanding. "Then Juvia cleaned in the high shelves to get the dust off."

"Yeah, Mira made me help clean the dishes and scrub the floor. Gajeel wouldn't help, the jerk."

Juvia snickered and Gray continued to rub Juvia's arm, unknowingly lifting the sleeve up her pale skin. It was then he noticed small bruises peppered in the bent of her arms and upward, in small circles with defined marks inside the rings of the bruises. Gray lifted the sleeve more to see more crawlings up to the back of her shoulder as well, his brows furrowed.

"Juvia."

"Mm?" the blue haired demon rubbed under her eye before opening them to glance his way.

"Where'd you get these?" he asked as he rubbed over one of the bruises, knowing that it wouldn't hurt her as majority of bruises never hurt her. He watched her crane her neck to look where he was pointing it out, seeing her blink for a long moment and drop her head back on her pillow.

"Juvia must've bumped into something hard while she was moving things for Erza-san," Juvia guessed. "Juvia isn't too sure."

"They look like bite marks."

"Bug bites?" Juvia thought out loud as she rolled to her back, forcing Gray to drop the sleeve as she rest her head in the crook of his neck and shoulder. "Juvia will go to Wendy-san tomorrow morning and see what she thinks."

"Never seen anything like that on your skin before," Gray mumbled under his breath and Juvia made an uneasy face for a brief moment. "Seriously Juvia, they look like bites or something. Did you get in a fight with Natsu and he bit you?"

"Natsu-san only _bites_ Lucy-san, as far as Juvia knows," she told him and Gray's face instantly went beat red at what she was suggesting to him. It was so odd how she could say it matter-of-factly, like chatting about the weather. "Besides, Juvia didn't have a spar with Natsu-san this morning or anything. Juvia might have bumped into something, Gray-sama, don't worry about it."

She kissed his chin and curled up against him, just the way she liked to cuddle in bed with him during the night. Gray let out a long breath and tangled his fingers in her hair, angling her head just right for a proper kiss, and she hummed happily and returned with equal strength.

"Just make sure you go to Wendy tomorrow. Or Porlyusica. I don't care, just make sure it's nothing serious," he whispered. "They don't hurt, do they?"

"No, or Juvia would have noticed," she giggled and he sighed again. Of course, Juvia was always sensitive to anything that would cause problems to her body, otherwise she would use her Water Body to flush it out or avoid it.

Gray recalls the next morning when Juvia got dressed while he was still asleep - something about being called to the Guild by Erza - and he watched her take off his shirt to see all the bruises on her skin. A couple on the back of her neck, around her shoulders and the small of her back and above her bottom; to Gray, they were intimate places where he remembers kissing whenever her back was to him, sometimes leaving his own marks if she allowed it.

After that, they disappeared, and Gray left it at that…

=xxx=

He heard them conversing inside Mirajane's liquor storage, with the door open. He was helping the eldest Strauss carry a barrel down into the room before a certain Card Mage took notice of the new shipment, and he could hear Juvia's voice in her other form…

"Zeref was too gentle on Juvia the other day," she hissed darkly at the ex-Mage, and Gray held still before his girlfriend would have noticed his presence. "It doesn't do anything good for Juvia."

"You're suggesting that I try _harder_ next time?"

"If Juvia is to get rid of anything and make it look like nothing has happened, yes. Juvia's body doesn't react to softer touched - you need to go as hard as you can, or Juvia won't feel anything."

What?

"At least, Juvia doesn't know, Zeref needs to hold Juvia harder," she grumbled stressfully. "Juvia understands that Zeref doesn't have the strength as he used to, but you got to try something to stimulate Juvia enough to get excited enough to heal quicker. Does that make sense?"

Zeref seemed to sigh. "Mavis never seemed to be this difficult whenever I do it."

Gray's stomach twisted and he felt something bubble inside him.

"Well, Juvia isn't like the First," Juvia said stubbornly and the ex-Mage chuckled.

"Of course you're not, you're too unique, my dear Keyes."

Gray left the barrel outside the storage room, waiting until Juvia found him drinking at Mirajane's bar. She smiled happily to him and kissed his cheek, telling him it was time to go home, to which he silently agreed and somewhat leaned on her the whole way home before going to bed.

=xxx=

She started to get fidgety for no reason.

Whenever she sits down at the table with her friends, Gray notices how she situates herself constantly, as if she can't find the right sitting position. When Asuka or Happy would sit on her lap to reach the table, sometimes she would have to excuse herself and settle them to Lucy's lap or Erza's, saying that her "stomach" was a bit sore.

Gray was sitting with the men's table, posing himself unable to hear anything the girls were saying a few feet away. He pretended to be listening to Natsu's bogus story of his last job with Lucy and Happy, sipping his beer, while listening in on Lucy and Juvia's secret conversations.

"What's wrong, Juvia?" Lucy eventually asked in a soft voice after Asuka left to go back to her parents, finding Juvia rubbing her lower abdomen. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Juvia is just sore around her hip area, that's all," she said quietly, yet Gray could easily hear the embarrassment in her voice.

Lucy hummed and smirked a little. "I guess you and Gray have been busy whenever you go home, huh. It's okay, Natsu and I are like that every once in a while and I feel like I can't sit still," the blonde chuckled and wrapped her arm around her demon friend.

Juvia gave Lucy an uneasy smile, her cheeks red. "I suppose. Juvia does need a break every once in a while…"

Gray and Juvia haven't been intimate lately, though.

Getting up from his spot, Gray carefully went over to the girls' table and looked to Juvia, who responded just as happy to see him with a sparkle in her eyes. "Gray-sama," she said to him, instantly getting up on her own feet to hug him, like she usually does. "Is Gray-sama having a good time?"

"Yeah," he said casually before touching her cheek with his thumb. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Excusing herself from Lucy, Juvia held Gray's hand over to the small hallway that led to the restrooms. It was secluded enough for them to have a private conversation, and Gray took advantage of that while Juvia leaned her back against the wall casually, yet still fidgeting by her hips. He noted that in the back of his head.

"Are you feeling okay?" Gray asked her and she tilted her head in question. "I noticed that you don't look comfortable while sitting down or walking too often."

She seemed to soak that in, taking a deep breath and looked away from him for a moment. "Juvia _has_ been trying these new exercises to handle her control better, with her temper-" Gray knew she was talking about her transformations between her human and Etherious form "- and it has been leaving me sore in some places."

"Why?"

"Well, Juvia knows she can't always control herself, now that everyone knows of Juvia, but Juvia wants to not scare people anymore, you know?" she blubbered shyly, her fingers twitching a bit as she seem to move her hip to a different position.

She was lying.

Gray's brows furrowed and he placed both hands on her shoulders. He felt her stiffen under his grip, but he wanted her to know that he won't be mad so long as she's honest. "Juvia, you know you can tell me -"

"Oh, excuse me."

Both heads snapped to see Zeref standing at the doorway of the men's room, still drying his hands with paper towels. He looked between them with confusion before noticing Juvia's seemingly panicked expression and frowned at the sight. "Is everything okay..?"

Gray's eyes narrowed at him. "We're trying to have a conversation, if you don't mind."

Zeref raised a brow and looked to Juvia, his voice calm and like honey to the ears. "Keyes, is everything okay?"

"Of course," Juvia said quickly, her spine straightening. "J-Juvia was just telling Gray-sama about the exercises she's been doing for her temperament. The ones you've been helping Juvia with!"

"Oh, yes," Zeref nodded, a half-smile on his face as he tossed the paper towel behind him, landing into the bin perfectly. "You've been working really hard with me and I've seen improvement."

"I see…" Gray drawled in a low voice.

"Zeref was the one to suggest helping Juvia out, that's all!" Juvia was quick to say, her hands on Gray's chest to have him lean away from Zeref. He didn't realize how he was trying to seem tougher than the other man until Juvia made him take a step back. "He helps Juvia with meditation, to focus better."

Zeref chuckled, not seeming to mind. "Keyes has always been a little bit harder to handle, out of the rest of the Etherious," he explained with a handsome smile. "I know I don't have my magic anymore, but I can still be of use to her when she needs some extra assistance. Even being the youngest, she doesn't get any special treatment from me when she wants to work hard for something she wants."

Zeref looked to Juvia and gave her a smile. "Isn't that right, my dear?"

Juvia's face flushed and she looked down between her and Gray, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. Gray's eye twitched and stood up taller, hoping to seem more dominating as he took Juvia's hand and began walking away with her. He ignored Zeref's call and the rest of his friends asking what was going on. Juvia didn't say anything and allowed him to guide her out of the guildhall and towards their home.

Inside their home, Gray felt even worse that Juvia didn't do anything to try and explain to him what Zeref meant. She just went into the bathroom and prepared herself for her pajamas and left Gray alone with his thoughts.

They went to bed without a word, facing away from each other. Gray didn't do anything to her in the sort - he could never bring himself to do anything to hurt Juvia (despite probably her feelings being hurt at this point). He could feel her move around, trying to be comfortable in some sort; how she curled against his back and he could feel her silent tears against his skin as she pressed a nervous, shy kiss to his shoulder so lightly.

"Good night, Gray-sama...Juvia loves you."

=xxx=

Gray woke up to the vibrations of the Lacrima on Juvia's nightstand. He didn't open his eyes, but his ears were open and he kept his breathing absolutely at rest to give her the impression that he was still asleep. He felt her carefully sit up in their bed and answer the Lacrima, holding it to her ear.

"Yes..? Zeref, it's too _early_ ," Juvia whispered in a short panic before going suddenly quiet. Gray listened to her silence for a moment, before hearing her voice with a sort of giddiness, like she used to when she first fantasized about him after first joining Fairy Tail.

"You mean it..? Y-yes, Juvia understands. Juvia will be there as soon as possible," she whispered. "No, Gray-sama is asleep - he won't wake for another few hours, so we have time before he notices I'm gone."

Gray waited while she got dressed silently, his eyes closed and breathing still slow as she carefully ran her fingers through his hair, like she usually did if she got up before him to make breakfast. He listened as she carefully exited their home and locked the door before opening his eyes with painful anger…

The sun wasn't up in the sky when he made it out to follow Juvia, being able to see some of the stars in the pinkish sky as he kept a good distance between himself and the demon walking in a quick pace. She entered the city in absolute silence, just like a ghost, in the middle of the empty streets; he stuck to the shadows and made sure the wind didn't spread his scent her way and got her attention, knowing her sense of smell is also strong enough to detect (hence, her 'Gray'-radar that she would call it back in the day). It didn't take long for Juvia to reach the guildhall and open the door to slip inside.

Gray remembered that Mirajane gave Zeref a key to the guildhall, since he often helps open in the morning. However, the guildhall was closed for the weekend.

Frowning deeper, Gray approached the door and listened in on Juvia's excited voice. "Does Zeref really mean it? Is Zeref serious?"

"I wouldn't wake you up at this hour if I wasn't serious."

' _What the hell are they talking about_?' Gray growled in his mind, only half-tempted to activate his Devil Slayer mark and give Zeref his two cents. Considering his next move, Gray's hand reached for the latch of the door before a soft, angelic voice startled him.

"Gray?"

Turning around, Gray found the confused face of Mavis Vermillion, still petite and brightly colored dressed, looking to him as if he had (another) mustache drawn on his face. Her hair was pulled in a ponytail and her outfit was convenient for traveling long distance with _shoes_ to match; in her hands was a large satchel that looked over-filled with hidden contents, yet not heavy enough for the now-mortal woman to stress over from the walk from the train station to here…

"What are you doing here?" she said in a soft voice, since it was still early morning and not wanting to become a nuisance. "I thought...or did she..?"

"F-First, I thought you were gone on your job," Gray answered with round eyes, his hand going through his hair.

The blonde smiled warmly and tugged her featherly earpiece. "Well, yes. I just got here, obviously, from taking the nightly trains - did you know there is far less people on trains during the night? It's so quiet and relaxing to not have so much commotion!"

Before Gray could really take in the presence of the first guildmaster, Mavis collected herself and cleared her throat. "Now, if you'll excuse me," she said quietly. "I have to be inside the guildhall - my bag is a little heavy and I'm a bit thirsty from my trip. You should go along home, Gray. I know you're not the morning-person type, especially when you don't have any work to do."

"First, you shouldn't go in there. I need to talk to -"

But Mavis didn't really listen, walking past Gray and attempted to slip inside the small crack of the door. Gray stiffened before acting out by trying to push her out of the way, only to be overwhelmed by the weight of her bag and knocked through the threshold. Gray stumbled backwards and fell, hitting the back of his skull on the hard floor while Mavis found her footing quick enough to grab the bag with both arms and hugging it to her. He groaned at the pain momentarily before seeing Juvia's bewildered expression and Zeref sitting at the nearest table.

"I'm sorry I took so long," Mavis said quickly, sighing in relief at catching the bag. "I almost forgot how to get back here when I contacted you at the station, Zeref. The new roads threw me off a bit, but then I saw Gray."

Strolling over, Mavis placed the large bag ontop of the table where Zeref sat and reached over to kiss his cheek lightly. Zeref smiled in silent greeting before frowning to Gray as Juvia hurried over to help him up, not too please by the sight himself.

"G-Gray-sama, are you okay?" Juvia panicked as she helped him sit up and quickly back away to give him space. "Did you hit your head?"

"He should be fine, Keyes. He's not pale," Zeref said rather stiffly.

"But what are you doing here, Gray-sama?" Juvia asked quickly when he finally got to his feet and he collected himself enough to snap a bit.

"I should be asking you that!" Gray growled and Juvia leaned away from the harshness of his voice. "And _you_!" Gray pointed to the man still sitting casually at the table with Mavis behind him, hands on his shoulders. "The fuckin' hell are you doing, huh? Thinkin' I won't notice how you and Juvia have been sneaking around behind my back?"

"What?" Mavis tilt her head, glancing to Juvia for a moment. "So he _doesn't_ -?"

"Zeref is using Juvia, First!" Gray shouted, interrupting Mavis, then looking to Juvia. "Why the hell are you even doing this to us, Juvia? I thought you trusted me - you said that there's nothing between you two, and now I find out you've been cheating?"

"'Cheating'?" Juvia gasped, her eyes wide in horror. "You think Juvia would… With _Zeref_?"

"I see this has become an issue and made you very, very confused, Gray," Zeref said coolly, resting his chin atop of his hands. "Why don't you sit down and we can discuss this like adults?"

" _I ain't sitting with you, dumbass_!" Gray shouted with venom in his voice, jabbing a finger at him.

Juvia stepped infront of Gray with her palms open to him, trying to calm him down. She was biting her lip and her nails looked to have sharpened a little, and it was then that Gray noticed he was slowly activating his Devil Slayer mark out of uncontrolled anger and she was reacting to it.

She was seeing him as a threat with his mark, it was her instinct kicking in.

" _Gray-sama_ ," she said in a low voice, almost airy in her demonic state, "this isn't what you think it is. Gray-sama needs to _stop_."

Gray frowned at her reaction to him, although knowing it was his fault, and instantly noticed the tears in her eyes. "Juvia? Juvia, I -" he tried taking a step towards her, and her eyes snapped to her pitch black orbs and growled at him. "Juvia, I'm not going to -"

"Gray-sama doesn't understand. Gray-sama is angry and thinks Juvia is cheating on him..? Juvia didn't want to tell you, because you wouldn't understand!" Juvia sobbed dryly, a few tears slipping down her cheeks, yet still defensive towards him.

"Mavis, can you take Keyes upstairs to calm her down a bit?" Zeref said softly to his girlfriend, who glanced to him with a slight worried expression and he smiled. "I'll talk to him, don't worry. Keyes just needs some space for the moment."

"Okay," Mavis nodded and approached Juvia from behind. Carefully taking the demon's arm with her small hands, the blonde woman smiled to Juvia as she started guiding her to the stairs a bit away from the two men. "Come with me, Juvia. I want to hear what has been happening while I've been gone."

Gray watched with hurt written in his eyes as he watched Juvia look away from him so painfully, following Mavis up the stairs and out of sight before glaring to Zeref. The ex-Mage didn't seem fazed by the dangerous look in Gray's eyes, instead used his foot to scoot the chair across from him to look more accessible, unmoving from his contemplating pose.

"Come here, Gray," Zeref instructed quietly.

Keeping his mark semi-visible, Gray took slow, hard marches towards the table, but refused to sit down as he glared at the top of Zeref's head. Zeref didn't look at him and remained relaxed as he closed his eyes. "Open the bag and take out the first thing you touch, please."

Slowly doing as instructed, Gray snatched the bag Mavis had been carrying - seemingly along her travels - watching Zeref to make sure he wasn't going to move when he least expected it. Reaching inside, all he could feel were thick papers. Grabbing one of them, Gray pulled it out of the bag and dropped the sack back onto the table.

"Look at it, please."

Gray's now-red eyes glanced down to see he was holding a worn out folder. It was thick and had some torn papers sticking from between the pages, and smelled somewhat similar to what Gray could only describe as old library books that Levy would read and dirt. The color of the papers were ashy and stained with age and some water, and the writing was slightly smears with horrible penmanship that even Gray could admit that Natsu had better handwriting.

Seeing that Zeref's eyes were still closed, Gray hesitated before opening in the middle of the file. Words and scribbled all over the pages and a illustrated drawing clipping stuck to the corner of the paper of what looked to be a water drop, a circle with an X on the inside and a smear of ink - numbers and random letters were scribbled underneath it, making no sense to him. Gray looked to the pages and tried his best to read the faded contents.

 _Fourteenth Week -_

 _With last few tests failing within the first week, Fetus 36 maintains to remain solid form within the particles. When submitted to watery content, Fetus absorbs the amounts without breaking the egg. Must keep track of survival every other hour to see results._

 _Fourteenth Week Day 3 -_

 _Fetus 36 is responding to watery content - adding additional amounts to each injection to see reaction from breaking._

 _Fourteenth Week Day 5 -_

 _Fetus 36 grows human appearance similar to mortal fetus. No signs of fatality or negative reaction. Must give higher amounts to keep it hydrated and…_

Gray frowned and looked to Zeref in confusion. "What the hell is this?"

Zeref opened his eyes, looking to the file in Gray's hand and then to the bag with a longing expression. With one hand, he reached out and rest his palm atop of the bag, as if registering the amount of files inside the bag Mavis had been carrying for who knows how long…

"These are all records of when Keith and I were creating Keyes - when we created _Juvia_ ," he said quietly. "I needed all of them in order to help with her request she asked of me and Mavis to help her."

" _Help with what_?"

"Juvia came to us a few months ago, asking for help with something she couldn't figure for herself," Zeref explained.

=xxx=

" _Zeref, Juvia wants to know!"_

 _Zeref looked up from his book in the guildhall library, where he and Mavis were spending the afternoon, when Juvia burst in and fell to her knees in a bowing position to the both of them. Mavis and Zeref looked to each other before back to Juvia, who was holding her position of what looked to be begging - for what, neither of them were sure._

 _Closing his book, Zeref offered a small smile to the Etherious. "Sure, Keyes...uhm, what do you want to know?"_

" _Juvia wants to know about Juvia," she blurted out, her head popping up and her teeth her pointed with excitement. "Things that everyone else knows of themself, but Juvia doesn't!"_

 _Again, this left the two ex-Mages confused. "What do you mean, Juvia?" Mavis asked next softly, beckoning with a hand for Juvia to sit up properly, which she eventually did._

" _Juvia...wants to know the day of her birth, for a birthday," Juvia perked. "When we celebrated Master Makarov's birthday on a specific day last month, Juvia learned that everyone has a 'birthday', but Juvia doesn't…"_

" _You don't know your birthday?" Mavis frowned and looked to Zeref, who flinched._

" _I mean, we know the year she was born…"_

" _Zeref!" Mavis scolded harshly, slapping her book shut, startling both Zeref and Juvia._

" _But Juvia would like to know the day, so she can celebrate a birthday with everyone she loves, too!" Juvia proclaimed strongly. "And Juvia has more she would like to know, too, that is very important!"_

" _What is it, Keyes?" Zeref asked, genuinely interested in the Etherious's enthusiasm in their conversation._

 _Suddenly, her happy and excited behavior dissipated to a flushed face and twitching fingers. Her shoulders fell as her tongue seems to go into a twist. "J-Juvia...uhm, err, I-I want…"_

 _Mavis tilt her head. "What is it? What's wrong?"_

 _Looking down, Juvia fiddled with her fingers - her eyes became wet as she puckered her lips. "Mmm...with Levy-san pregnant, Juvia learned from her where babies come from." Mavis gave another hard stare at Zeref, who swallowed thickly. "When Juvia was very little, Zeref told Juvia that babies come from storks, when two people love each other very much and make a wish for a baby… Babies are not from storks, as Zeref told Juvia."_

" _I swear to the heavens, Zeref," Mavis grumbled with narrowed eyes. "You thought that telling her babies came from storks was a good idea?"_

" _She was a child!" Zeref defended himself. "Told the same thing to Larcade, and he took it just fine!" Mavis facepalmed with the book, groaning._

" _With that said, Juvia thought it over and realized...Juvia and Gray-sama have been together many times without protection, but Juvia has never been...pregnant," Juvia said softly to them, her hands unconsciously curling into fists on her lap. "From everything Levy-san explained, Juvia should be pregnant from not having protection a few times._

" _Zeref, Juvia is wondering if she is...broken," she pondered outloud to him, frowning worriedly. "Juvia looked into some books and found the word 'infertile'. Is that what Juvia is?"_

 _A moment of silence occurred in the room as Zeref genuinely seemed to think it over, with Mavis watching with furrowed brows as Juvia waited patiently. "When Keith and I made you, we made you with the sole purpose of being Deliora's child. We were too focused on making sure you succeeded in coming to full term and functional for the purpose of being an indestructible Etherious for Deliora, we never planned on anything else beyond that…"_

" _But Juvia_ _ **is**_ _a healthy, living Etherious," Mavis interjected carefully and Zeref hummed. "What about the other ones? Couldn't they reproduce?"_

" _None of them wanted to," Zeref shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know."_

 _Juvia looked so crestfallen that it hurt the inside of his own chest. "Oh...I see."_

" _However," Zeref spoke rather loudly, yet confident, "I think we can figure some things out. It will take some effort and time, but I'm sure I can figure out some answers… If this is what you truly want, Keyes."_

 _Her face flushing again, Juvia looked down to her hands, examining them as if they were something different from everyone else. "Juvia...has always said she would have many children with Gray-sama, years ago, asking how many he would like," she smiled sadly at the funny memories of her fantasizing her future with him. "Juvia would like to have that, even though she isn't human - Juvia would like to have a happy life with Gray-sama, if she can be allowed with this different body."_

" _Does Gray know about this?" Mavis asked gently, and Juvia bit her lip._

" _Juvia...does not want Gray-sama to know of this - any of this," she closed her eyes. "Etherious are the ones who took his family away, his mentor and almost his best friend - Juvia doesn't think she can bear with having to tell Gray-sama of complications with her body because she is what she is._

" _We talk about getting married someday, and having children, but Juvia doesn't think she can go through with any of it if she can't be like_ everyone else _," she said sorrowly. Before Zeref and Mavis could try and console her, she gave them a sad smile. "Juvia has dreamed of being a mother. Having children with the man she loves and raising them to know that the world is a wonderful place, despite its flaws, but…"_

 _A hand pressed to her abdomen, Juvia's expression looked more disappointed in herself as she clutched her coat. "In the end, Juvia herself knows nothing of herself and it makes her feel weak. This is not Gray-sama's burden to bear. He has dealt enough with Etherious."_

=xxx=

"Granted, I take full responsibility of not properly educating her about how babies were _made_ ," Zeref said with a sigh and rubbed his head. "I'm not too good at discussing topics like that to children in the slightest, but I always thought she would figure out the truth herself, one way or another.

"As for this particular situation, I had asked Mavis to retrieve all the files from where Keyes was a concepted idea to when she was physically born, in addition to the other attempts we've tried in making a child for Deliora," Zeref explained as he pulled out another file, a large X splattered in red ontop - an obvious token of a failed experiment. He looked at it for a moment before placing it down and pinch the bridge of his nose. "You of all people should know that the world still wants me dead, otherwise I would have gone and get the files myself - Mavis was the safest bet to ensure we would get everything I needed."

Gray felt a bit numb, looking over the page before Zeref reached over and took it from his hands. He didn't fight against him, letting the ex-Mage close it carefully and set it with the other one. "While Mavis was gone, I found a book of ancient practices for Mages to check their own bodies, including internal organs and intestines, to see proper functions. This was way before Healing Magic was a thing…

"I figured it would be a start for Keyes to try and search for the required parts it takes to reproduce; even though it's a sort of meditation, there has been times where it has left her extremely sore around her pelvic area," Zeref sighed. "I eventually decided to stop that, before you were to notice her in that state or she were to do something to harm herself."

"The marks on her skin," Gray said under his breath and Zeref blinked. "The ones that look like hickeys. I saw them once!"

"The ones around her back and arms around here?" the man pointed to the bent of the elbow and Gray made a short hum. "I've been trying to get blood samples, but a regular IV won't work on Keyes, since her body takes it as an attack. Porlyusica gave me a different type of IV she created that poses as a _bite_ before inserting the needle; it only works for a short time before I have to move to a different spot on her body. It's amazing how her body takes different 'attacks', but Keyes hasn't really noticed the bruises on her back before I could stop her from leaving… I could see where you got the wrong impression.

"The blood samples were for Porlyusica, for her to try and test out if her blood could make it's own proper blood type," Zeref explained. "It was going to help with my research if Keyes can supply her own DNA with yours to make a child without using Water Make: Blood and threaten her own life. Without my magic, it's proven to be very difficult to make sure she maintains her health."

"And she's been keeping all of this from me?" Gray asked in disbelief, and Zeref scratched his head with an uneasy smile.

"She always had the habit of putting others before herself, and you're a special case," Zeref told him honestly. "Keyes loves you and wants to have a future with you, but she has felt that you have had enough bad history with demons that she doesn't want to take that further into your relationship."

"But, we don't _need_ to have kids. I would never hold anything like that against her - she knows that!"

"Of course she does, but this isn't all about _you_. Juvia also desires to have her own flesh and blood, as well as other things humans have that she doesn't, that's why she came to me for help. Really, I doubt Juvia would originally come to me for anything so personal if she didn't think she had to," Zeref said with a raised brow. "Even you should know that she wouldn't want to involve others, Gray."

He was right.

"Keyes is also like her father - they both desired something that doesn't make much sense to most people, but it means a lot to them," Zeref told him. "Deliora knew he couldn't make his own child himself or with anyone else, so he came to me. Keyes is just a different case."

"How?" Gray asked with a frown.

"She was made from a human fetus. Keith obtained it from one of his 'collections', if you understand what I mean… All of the tests were, before we succeeded with Keyes. She's the only Etherious ever made from pieces of human, although deceased to begin with." Zeref didn't look too pleased with himself at explaining it, taking in Gray's horrified expression as he finally slumped into the chair across from him. "I hypothesise, with the fact that she was created with the use of a human fetus, I can help her either develop or fix her body to be suitable to bear healthy children. The only problem is with the dark particles she was made with Keith, and the water she was created with together, she's still nowhere human herself, and I don't know how her body would take in trying to create life."

Gray looked at the files on the table, the rejected (failed) one and the one that was recording the progress of Juvia in the making. The number thirty-six popped into his head and he could feel the blood drain from his face: It has taken thirty-six tries and thirty-six different unborn children before succeeding…

"Why are you doing this?" Gray asked in a low voice, and Zeref looked up to him before he continued in a sad voice. "Why are you doing this for her anyway?"

Zeref's face softened and he offered Gray a sombered smile. "When we made her, I made her for the sole purpose of being Deliora's child, nothing more, nothing less. I honestly would have never thought of Keyes to break away from her own species to blend in with humans, become a Mage, join a Guild, make friends or even _fall in love_ with someone.

"After everything that has happened and where I am now, I see how much _Juvia_ deserves happiness," he confessed. "Realizing that she has dreams of a future with you, to start her own family and desires to be happy, I want her to have it. I'm willing to do what I can to help her achieve that, believe it or not."

Gray stared at him, but eventually his Devil Slayer receded completely and his eyes dimmed to their original color. Zeref hummed at his eventual coolness, but then his eyes went hard. "As for you, considering Keyes would ever cheat on you - especially with me - that puts a mark on my list, Gray Fullbuster."

Gray's eyes narrowed and his lip curled in a sneer. "What are you, her father?"

"More or less, if you want to get complicated about it."

=xxx=

Mavis exited the guildhall library to see Gray hesitating to knock. She gave him a long stare before seeming to be pleased by his expression and hold the door open for him to enter. Gray blinked before stepping through the threshold and entering, just for Mavis to close the door behind him, leaving him alone with the still saddened Etherious sitting on one of the plush chairs in the middle of the library. Juvia had returned to her normal state, tissues filling her hands and the distinct, cute sniffle was the only audio in the room when their eyes met.

A fresh layer of tears filled her eyes and Gray scratched his head. "Look, Juvia I -"

" _Juvia would never cheat on Gray-sama with Zeref_! _Zeref is too old to Juvia_! _Juvia is so sorry, Gray-sama!_ "

Oh boy.

Instead of trying to getting her to stop, Gray sighed and walked over to Juvia's seated spot and lift her to her feet. Embracing her into a hug, he cradled her crying head under his chin as he willingly rubbed her shivering back. Dropping all her wet tissues, Juvia clung to Gray with her nails digging into his back as she cried sloppy apologies and dampened his coat.

"It's okay, it's okay," Gray whispered to her, the hand holding her head gently pet through her soft hair. He pressed his lips to the crown of her head and he closed his eyes. "It's okay, don't apologize for anything. Don't cry."

"J-J-Juvia should h-h-have told G-Gray-sa-sama the truth!" Juvia cried, burying her face into his neck and he held her tighter, knowing the presence of being held strongly always made her feel better, eventually. "J-Juvia w-would n-n-never cheat on Gray-sama!"

"I know," he said confidently, pulling back enough to have her look up to him. "Zeref explained everything to me; the files, asking for his help, _everything._ I should be the one apologizing to you, Juvia. I should always know that you wouldn't do anything like that - I was being stupid and let my anger take the best of me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Juvia."

"So...G-Gray-sama knows..?"

He wiped her tears with both thumbs, somewhat smushing her cheeks adorably. "About how you thought I'd be upset about your body, how you want to get married and have kids," he answered quietly, resting his forehead against hers. "How you wanted to know your birthday and Zeref has been helping you. I pretty much know everything."

Juvia sniffed and looked down with in shame. "Juvia didn't want you to know, she feels broken with this body," she confessed sadly. "Even though Gray-sama says he still loves Juvia, despite being an Etherious, she couldn't even bring herself to tell you about this. Gray-sama must still feel mad about that…"

"A bit, but honestly I can get over it pretty easily," Gray shrugged nonchalantly and Juvia tilt her head curiously. "What's more important to me right now is that you are okay."

Juvia nodded slowly and Gray released a breath. "Good. So long as you're okay, that's all I care about. The junk Zeref told me about these hickey-IVs and that meditation experiment…"

"H- _hickey_ -IVs?" Juvia jumped and Gray went red in the face. "Oh, Gray-sama really _did_ think Juvia was cheating on him with Zeref! Juvia had to ask Zeref to point out all the bruises and - _JUVIA HAD SOME IN PLACES ONLY SHE LIKES GRAY-SAMA TOUCHING_! Juvia swore that she didn't want the IVs on her hips, but Juvia's arms and hands wouldn't let the IV work after the first few times. It didn't feel like being nipped by Gray-sama at all, like what Porlyusica-san said! _Gray-sama is so much better_!"

At that moment, Gray couldn't help but let out a laugh, his head dropping to her shoulder. At that very moment, he knew that things were going to be okay.

Perhaps, with whatever Zeref could figure out how to help Juvia with her own body - a presence that even the one living inside the body isn't too familiar with - whether it be a good or bad outcome to her request, that _Gray and Juvia_ would be okay. He knew now that he can handle anything, knowing that Juvia herself has her own questions about herself and wanted to have a future with him and him only. He knew that Juvia loved him and he loves her deep enough to support her through anything she must endure through this new journey for them.

Holding her face carefully, Gray pressed a kiss to her forehead before sealing her worried mouth with his, being sure to pour everything he couldn't say at the moment into the kiss. He wants her to know that he is certain with the hardships coming forth with Juvia's current condition, but how he was going to do whatever he can to support her and be by her side. He wants her to know that it won't - can't - be easy, but they were going to push through it and be happy in the end.

Things are going to be hard, and they will be tested, but it was going to be just fine.

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=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - I don't really think this is considered angst? I dunno. Babehz who know me well enough that I'm not into cheating-partner/spouse thing at all or would ever follow through with it "properly", but then again...why would I? c: Not my cup of tea, that's for sure, but I hope you enjoyed this in some sort. As I've said, I have had pretty yucky days lately and just kinda...barfed this thing out. I wasn't too sure where I was going with this, honestly!

And yeah, it's my headcannon of Etherious!Juvia isn't able to "reproduce" despite her being made with a human fetus. Some boring biological junk in there, but hey-yo, I make it work!


	9. Chapter 9

**Title -** Stone Age AU

 **Characters -** Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser; Erza Scarlet, Makarov Dreyar, Jellal Fernandes; Various other characters.

 **Genre -** StoneAge!AU, Romance & Humor.

 **Rating -** T+

 **Summary -** Simply because their tribes are joining together to survive, does not mean he is happy about it… Until he's pushed to work, live, and breathe with her, he begins to learn that not everything is that bad throughout the seasons.

Side note, this isn't accurate to the omake, so no need to feel like you need to correct me on anything, since this is really for the fun of it. I did take some things from the omake and used it in here, but it does not apply from the original plot. THIS IS ALSO, LIKE, A YEAR LATE FROM WHEN I WAS GOING TO PUBLISH IT (life gets me sometimes).

Please feel free to give a Review, Follow or Favorite!

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=xxx=

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Gray didn't like the fact that the mass team of his tribe members weren't leading the way to the original territory they always go to after traveling from the south to avoid the harsh winter. He didn't like the fact that the chieftain came to the conclusion before their leave that they would officially take companionship with the other tribe they discovered last summer, thanks to Natsu.

When he saw Natsu, smiling brightly upon seeing his old friends entering the cliffside village with his wife waiting by his side, he shoved all his packs at his face.

After Natsu wandered way too far from the camp and encountered the blonde woman during his exploration, he and Lucy met each other throughout of last year. When Natsu thought of it to be a good idea to bring his now-wife to their tribe's camp, it sparked her own tribe to attack their own…

Once the two "love birds" - as Makarov called them - explained what was happening and how close the two were, the leaders sought out a deal that would ensure not only their survival, but also stronger bonds. With the winter so close to approaching by the time they closed the vow of joining their clans together, the clan of Tail left for their winter territory, promising to come back with the remaining clansmen to finish the growing village together as one.

A few of Tail's members remained with the Kreuz tribe for the winter by choice, and with the approval of the woman chieftain after checking for the amount of supplies to spare. Gray didn't like that either, leaving Natsu, Gajeel and the small family of Azlack, Bisca and their daughter Asuka with the dangerous conditions of snow, cold and everything in between of being left with the Kreuz.

Despite no one getting injured from the attack, Gray felt he had major trust issues with the warriors he encountered, specifically one woman who broke their dam last year with a club.

Since it was a major accident by all means, as much as Gray tried to forget it, he still didn't like the outcome of joining a tribe that first posed as an enemy. He blamed Natsu for all of it.

Being the second day of coming to the tribe's territory, the leaders were bringing each Tail's remaining members to a Kreuz section of work and letting them get to know each other. Being the way he was, Gray waited to be the very last member of Tail to be pulled from his sleeping mat by Makarov and was now walking between the old man and the red headed monster who led the army to his camp last year.

The female chieftain was still as scary and dominating as when he saw her bombard with her warriors to the camp. Her outfit made of bones sewn together to her furred two-piece, a long staff decorated with a large arrowhead at the top and charms of small animal skulls and beads dangling in long strings used as a walking staff. Her expression was pretty stoic, Gray noticed, and probably looked more scary than Makarov with his own skull staff and bone tunic.

"Makarov tells me you are the most skilled hunter in your tribe," Erza spoke while glancing to the dark haired man. "You kept your tribe supplied with food down south this past season the most?"

"Yes," Gray answered simply, seeing how Makarov snickered at him. Makarov knew that Gray was somewhat afraid of the woman, and certainly liked to rub it in his face.

"Gajeel and Natsu both proved themselves to be on the same level as most of our hunters here during this winter," Erza went on smoothly, guiding the two by the huts where Azlack and Bisca were playing with Asuka, who has her face and hands stained with edible berries. Gray was distracted for a moment at seeing the child living until Erza kept speaking. "However, with the double population in our tribe now, we need another hunter who can work longer hours and go through tougher terrain to supply us with the needed meat we will acquire for the next seasons."

Unlike Tail, Kreuz stay in the same area throughout the year and push themselves against the elements of nature, unlike how Gray's home travel whenever the winds start blowing cold air. Gray didn't understand that concept, especially with the large predators around during the winter, hunting for food. Now, thanks to Makarov and Erza, the tribe that came to join them will now see what it's like for winter, breaking tradition and the smart idea of avoiding bad, long-term weather.

"As much as Natsu and Gajeel prove themselves as excellent hunters, they also push themselves to work with preparing the meat and building huts this winter for all of you coming in, so we are giving them a sort of break," she explained. "They will remain more within the village and finish constructing. I asked Makarov about his best, hard working hunter, and he strongly suggested you to join our best team."

"Like everyone else, you will be sharing living quarters with them," Makarov said simply, with his large grin on his face. "You will need to listen to your new team and learn how to adjust to the new surroundings, like everyone else is doing."

"Got it." Gray slowed down once the leaders stopped at the edge of an opened area where a rather small hut stood against a cliff with a small waterfall and a pond. The pond connected to a small stream that bordered a thick forest on the other side. There were openings of caves around it as well.

Glancing around, Gray waited for either leader to say or move. "So...where are they?" he dared to ask the red head, since Makarov seemed to just be following Erza around for the time being.

Erza simply smiled, and Gray leaned away from the suddenly sweet demeanor she exposed for someone who wears more bones than anyone he had ever seen. "They're coming, just wait a moment."

Before Gray could ask, the brush suddenly burst with excitement as large sabertooth tigers leapt over the small stream and into the opening, making Gray jump back as they came in by the numbers.

Looking around frantically for a weapon, Gray nearly fell as Erza gracefully walked towards one of the large cats, holding out her hand. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Where are the -!"

Another wave of large cats came out of the woods, their jaws carrying game of different deer. One of the cats, and the largest one Gray had ever seen compared to the others, had a antlered deer in its mouth and a woman _riding_ on its back…

He recognized her in a instant.

The same wavy, blue hair that fell like water down her back with large, sparkling eyes. She had fair skin compared to most of the people he's seen so far, but she was decorated the same as most of the women in the new village. Her wrists decorated with bracelets and a two-piece fur outfit made of thicker animal fur with footless leggings, a hat atop of her head as well.

The same woman who broke his tribe's dam, and then fell ontop of him and didn't move for who know's how long.

The biggest cat she was riding slowed down, breathing hard through its nose and dragging the deer over towards the three. Erza stood ahead of the two men with a hand on her hip, yet her posture relaxed as she smiled to the blue haired woman.

The sabertooth tiger bowed its head once getting closer to Erza, dropping the deer infront of her as the blue haired woman leapt off the cat's back to her bare feet.

"Lady Erza," the girl greeted with a bright smile to her leader, bowing her head. "We have meat!"

"Excellent, Juvia," Erza praised sweetly as she pat the top of Juvia's head. Turning to face the old man and the young huntsman, Erza gently led Juvia to take a step forward for them to have a better look.

"This is Juvia. She was with me when we bombarded your camp last year," she introduced. "She is the head hunter for long range and brings back majority of the meat we eat; it's thanks to her that we prepare easy for winter."

Gray's eyes narrowed when the cat the woman rode strolled by without glancing to the two strangers. "What's with the...predator animals?"

Juvia made a face at the dark haired man, a mix of irritation and disbelief while Erza shook her head. "This is our hunting team, Gray. Juvia here works with the tigers and we co-exist with them in the village; they are part of the Kreuz tribe, like all of you who arrived here."

"You can't tame these things!" Gray gawked in shock.

Juvia spoke in rather confident, raising a brow at him. "Not tamed."

"Juvia had taught Gajeel and Natsu how to work with them during winter, but Makarov strongly suggested that you take their place in the long distance hunting. Everyone else is closer within our territory," Erza told Gray seriously. Looking to Juvia, the leader smiled sweetly to her. "Juvia, this is Gray. He will be part of the hunting team and will need some training, so be sure to teach him everything you and your team know about long-range."

"Yes, Lady Erza," Juvia nodded respectfully. Turning around, Juvia turned to the largest tiger, who seemed to be inspecting the other game the cats were carrying, and made a gentle call to them and clapped her hands.

The sabertooth tiger returned to pass Makarov and Gray, who neither dared to touch it, approach Erza with a snuffling noise before picking up the big deer by its limp neck. It growled lowly, sparking the other dozen or so sabertooth tigers to look its way and pay attention; the ones carrying deer followed the one into the village and none of the villagers seemed to be bothered by the large cats walking through their pathways. Juvia followed them after excusing herself directly to Erza, leaving the three behind in her area and (from what Gray could only assume) her hut.

"Be good to Juvia, Gray," Makarov instructed the man seriously. "I know you've been dreading coming here, but this is our home now. This is not only for the best of _our_ people, but for the both ends, whether you realize it now or not."

Gray frowned when Makarov went over to Erza's side. "What in the hell does he mean by that?"

=xxx=

After the feast at the center of the tribe's territory to celebrate the joining forces and making Gray spend that time eating only by the members of Tail and far away from the Kreuz people as possible, Juvia found him and patiently waited for him to finish his own meal. Since she didn't say anything to him, he eventually finished eating and unwillingly got up from his spot to follow her.

She began leading him back the way to the pond with the hut and caves, passing by other homes side-by-side. Juvia walked easily with a soft smile on her face and her hands behind her back, while Gray strolled boredly and did everything he could to ignore every jingle of her charms and how majority of the tribespeople greeted them so casually along the way.

"Juvia remembers you from when Lucy-chan was with Natsu-san," she finally spoke. "You tried to use your spears on Lady Erza before Juvia broke the dam. They looked sparkly, from what Juvia saw."

Gray didn't say anything as she smiled carefully. "Juvia would like to say sorry for that, and she hopes we will get along now. Juvia is excited to have more help with long distance hunting, and she is sure her family is, too!"

"Your whole family does this?" Gray raised a brow, looking her way and seeing her nod brightly. "Your leader made it sound like only you were the head hunter…"

"Because Juvia is who she looks, does not mean she is any less of a skilled hunter," she shrugged. "Juvia will not praise herself, she learned all from Mother and Father!"

With her odd speaking pattern, Gray wondered if she was from a separate tribe that spoke a different language and she was taken at one point. He never met anyone from a different tribe that _lived afterwards_ , yet he wasn't about to ask her for details - Lady Erza didn't seem the kind to take prisoners from enemy tribes and let them live. Allowing her to guide him back to the opening, where the sabertooth tigers remained and appeared to be lounging around a finished carcass of a deer, he stopped once the biggest one raised its head towards them and made the motion to get up on its feet.

"Juvia learned from Natsu-san and Gajeel-kun that your tribe was not used to being close to animals outside of game and harvest," the woman said coolly, taking a step further into the vast green grass while the tiger strolled closer to them. The large animal made a chuffling sound, raising it's nose towards Juvia. "Juvia and her family will do their best to help Gray-sama."

She imitated the noise it made as best as she could, sticking out both palms as the animal nuzzled into her hands. It circled her a few times, rubbing its face around the woman as she giggled, pressing her fingers at the top of the head. The move made the tiger slow down and rest at her feet, facing Gray with a piercing stare that made him uncomfortable.

"Gray-sama, this is Juvia's mother," she introduced them, her hands gently caressing the tiger's pierced ears. "She leads our family with Juvia to hunt for the village."

Gray's eyes narrowed between her and the tiger for a moment, remaining cautious and taking a step backwards. "This is some sort of joke, isn't it?"

She shook her head, a soft smile on her face as she knelt beside the tiger and wrapped her arms around the muscled neck. "No, this is Mother," she told him. "She raised Juvia since she was young. Mother is Juvia's parent, along with Father."

"You…"

"Not _tamed,_ as you thought before," Juvia smiled. "Lady Erza's grandmother, leader of Kreuz before Lady Erza, found us and joined together."

"But you're _not_ a sabertooth tiger," he claimed, making a horrified expression as the large cat rolled to its back, exposing her belly.

Juvia ran her hand across the fur, lightly scratching Mother's belly. "Because Juvia is who she looks, does not mean she is any less of a skilled hunter," she repeated smoothly.

Before Gray could ask her any more of her gibberish and confusing claims, she stood up with a happy grin as the tiger rolled to her paws and stood. "Juvia wants us to rest now, since we rise very early for hunting."

"Ah." Gray himself reached behind him and touched the pack he had been carrying, possessing all of his sleeping furs and small tools for traveling. "Right."

"Follow Juvia," she nodded politely as she made her way towards the small hut that had a fire within it. Gray was somewhat looking forward to sleeping near a fire with space, even if it is with a strange woman across the way, the hut looked very comfortable and _homelike_ with the dangling charms hanging off the entryway. Glimpse of collected furs nestled into a nest formed bed inside the hut looked tempting for Gray to try.

The tiger - _Mother_ , as Juvia called her - suddenly launched herself between him and Juvia, who just entered her small home, growling deeply with her ears pinned back and exposing her opened mouth in a snarl. Gray stumbled back and fell to his rear, crawling by using his hands and feet to force distance between him and the animal.

Juvia turned around and blinked, seeing Mother snarling at Gray and another large tiger strolled up on the other side of the hut. Gray could only assume by the similar size of Mother with more scars around his face, that it was Juvia's _Father._

"Wha-what!" Gray yelled as Father joined his mate's side and performed a even deeper growl that practically shook the ground beneath them.

Juvia stood between her parents, her fingertips carefully touching the bristled fur on their necks and trying to meet their eye. By her failure and seeing how they refused to take their stare off of Gray, Juvia hummed softly.

"It seems that Mother and Father don't want you sharing shelter with Juvia," she said.

"Why the hell not?" Gray snapped with absolute confusion. "I didn't do anything!"

"No, Gray-sama did nothing," she agreed, "but they must not see you as worthy to share."

" _What_?"

"Mother and Father were like this to Gajeel-kun and Natsu-san when they got near the meats we brought back to carry. Lady Erza calls it _dominance,_ Juvia thinks," the blue haired woman turned to the male alpha, rubbing her fingers through his fur. The most noticeable scar was how the left eye was missing, yet he appeared content with her petting so close to it. "It took time for them to let either man come close the meat, once they knew they are friends of Juvia. But, Juvia's hut..."

"So what does this mean?" Gray demanded as he got up, still leaning away from them.

"Gray-sama can not enter Juvia's hut, until her family sees fit," Juvia concluded. Mother laid herself down at the entrance of Juvia's hut, her large claws digging into the soft dirt and Father held still, keeping his sharp gaze at Gray. "Juvia can only offer Gray-sama one of the caves for shelter, but can not share fire."

Gray watched Juvia as she made a deep noise to Father, who gradually listened to her and began circling around Juvia's home a few times before sliding to his belly at the other side of the hut's entrance. Juvia bowed her head to Gray politely. "Juvia wishes Gray-sama a good night and good rest."

He sighed roughly as Juvia entered her hut and Father gave him one last snarl, signaling him to walk away from the hut and towards the wall of caves. Gray figured out a quick trick to know if a cave was vacant or not by the echoing growls from the other cats who found shelter inside; sure, it took a while and some close calls from charging cats (they didn't bit or scratched him, but they certainly startled him), but he eventually found a big enough cave to fit himself and his pack inside. It was far away shelter from the rest, but it was quiet and secluded enough to give Gray some peace.

Rolling out the fur sleeping mat - made from bear and deer - into the cave first, Gray crawled into his new home and forced himself to be made comfortable.

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"I'm awake. I'M _AWAKE_!" Gray yelled out as the brown colored sabertooth dragged him from the confines of his shelter by his trousers and belts. He had to hold on to his pants while being dragged, considering how the first time it happened, the tiger simply ran away with them, leaving him to wait until Juvia came back with them…

For the past few weeks this has been happening, every morning this was how he woke up for hunting. It annoyed him to no end whenever he saw Juvia waiting patiently beside either parent with a cheerful smile and always a sweet voice of " _Good morning, Gray-sama. Juvia hopes you have slept well_!"

By the time the tiger brought him to Juvia, the cat released its strong grip on his trousers and trot over to their 'sister', who congratulated it with a snuffling noise and a scratch under the chin. Fixing his pants back to a comfortable adjustment, Gray rolled himself onto his feet and stood and ready to receive the spear Juvia had waiting for him. Along with the spear came a basket that would strap across his torso to carry berries and different herbs for medicine, food and other remedies.

However, whatever berries Gray happens to pick, Juvia tells him to dump it all out, along with startling him with a yell to not touch specific plants - considering they were poisonous.

Originally coming from a tribe that survived strictly on meat and fish, Gray was not accustomed to searching bushes and picking up things from the ground that wasn't an animal's body. Then again, he wasn't used to trying to ride of the animals he attempts to hunt every now and then…

Because Juvia's "family" were very fast with their own feet, the blue haired woman was granted a higher-up advantage for a hunter to travel on an animal's back - a sabretooth, no matter! Gray could remember how the warriors stampede his camp on the backs of the wild cats, armored with weapons and balanced in formation with them, like it was nothing new.

Well, all of this is new to him.

Seeing the woman mount onto Mother's back, she waited patiently as Gray became cornered by three tigers who began leading him to pass over the creek and into the dense forest. He didn't bother to try and climb on any of the tigers, consider how they snarled at him and moved away every time he attempted to reach for the tuffs of thicker fur on their backs for a strong grip.

Juvia has tried many times to help Gray to get closer to her family, to at least ride through the difficult terrain he would face, but none of them didn't seem to want that. The closest thing they had with contact was just this: The tigers keeping close to guide him to remain in view of seeing Juvia and the alpha female…

Watching how Mother leapt to the front of the group, Gray could see how confident and strong Juvia was by riding on the bare back of one of the most dangerous animals any human could ever face. How her back was poised perfectly to balance as she held onto the tuffs of fur on Mother whenever she jumped or even clawed at a nearby tree to mark their territory. The woman also had a talent of commanding the others with simple noises by using her mouth and nose, like little squeaks, sniffles, chuffling and grunts and _they all listen to her_ as well.

It was evident that Mother was the direct leader of the pack, but it was Juvia, a human, who had the final word.

While standing far behind with the lesser ranked tigers watching Mother claw up a thick tree, making Juvia slowly slide down when the alpha dipped her back and seem to let out a pleased chuffle, Gray's eyes roamed from the woman to the open plains of the land.

Tons of growth of trees, brush and rocky terrain, this was a far travel from the usual length Gray and his old hunting team would go for food. Normally, as he recalled the tradition of migrating, the wildlife would resume their numbers while the tribe was gone, and, if they were lucky, had enough prey to feed their tribe through the seasons until the next winter. And, so far for Gray, he hasn't seen much of any wildlife…

A full-grown elk emerged from the tall brush, minding its own business in search of something to eat as it approached a thin tree filled with leaves and berries. Gray instinct kicked in at the sight and target of the elk stretching its neck, giving him a perfect aim for his spear to make a kill!

Kneeling low, Gray crawled silently away from his new team to a fallen trunk of a tree, a perfect camouflage as he pulled out his newly built spear from his strap behind his back. The arrowhead with large and sharply pointed, evidence of it shown on his hands if one were to look, and Gray has been itching to use it for once on one of these boring strolls with the animal-woman.

The elk jerked its head up, as if hearing something, and Gray held still. Waiting for the elk to return to feasting on the tree, Gray took a deep, silent breath before readying himself to move closer to get an easier strike to the neck.

A figure emerged behind him and, with the familiar sound, Gray didn't bother to look. "What is Gray-sama doing?" Juvia asked in a soft voice, as if not wanting to break his concentration.

"There's an elk I'm going to get," he said in a hush, wanting her to be more quiet.

Juvia looked up to follow his line of sight, her head tilting until she put a hand on his shoulder - the arm holding the spear. "No, Gray-sama."

He swung his head to look at her, absolutely irritated. "This is the _first prey_ we've seen since you started taking me on these explorations," he hissed quietly. "Sorry that berries and roots are not my expertise, but I'm a man who needs to kill to survive."

"Juvia understands," she gave him a single nod, her voice curt. "But, not this one. Not today."

"How much longer do you expect to find another animal out here, huh?" Gray demanded as he rose a bit higher. They were both in crouched positions, but he wanted to feel like she was being towered by him, to make her fall back. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for an animal to drop itself at my feet and say 'here, eat me'!"

She stood up then, in view of the elk if it were to look their way, and she forced him to stand by grabbing his arm. Pointing a sharp finger, she made it clear that she wasn't going to let him disobey her. Glaring back over to his target, Gray finally noticed the brush rustling and out came a babe. On the baby, its ear were too big for its head as it shook loose twigs off before approaching the mother, nuzzling its nose to her belly before going to nurse.

"Not. This. One," she said lowly, but in a regular volume, and the mother seemed to have noticed midchew. She didn't flee as expected, and Gray was left staring as the baby released and went to observe the tree its mother was feeding from a moment ago.

Suddenly, Juvia made a loud screech, stinging his ear as the two animals flinched and fled from the scene. It was only when Gray covered his ear he realized that Juvia was imitating the species' alert call, and only a moment later did the man notice that the tigers has been watching him as well.

It was like the elk didn't fear the sabertooth tigers, even with her own baby present, until Juvia made the noise. It was like it trusted them, and knew them like old friends.

Juvia's hand dropped from Gray's shoulder, her expression irritated, much to Gray's shock. "If Gray knew how life actually works, the mother brings and raises her offspring," she said matter-of-fact, making him blink.

"The hell are you -?"

"If Gray-sama killed the mother, before the mother could teach the baby, it would die," she interrupted him with a growl, and he was taken aback. "The mother dies, the baby dies. The baby dies, we die."

He thought it over, and it somewhat made sense of what she was trying to tell him. If he did kill the mother, the baby wouldn't survive to adulthood and proceed the next generation of elk and keeping the population growth in shape; the baby's mother would have fed enough of the village for an evening, at most, but to lessen the chance for finding food in the future by living in one place…

"It is early in the season to hunt females, with babies being born. Avoid striking them," she instructed to him before turning her back to him and returning to Mother's side. "Pay attention to antlers and size next time."

=xxx=

"What do you mean you want to be moved?" Makarov blinked as he stared at the dark haired man standing within the chieftain's head hut, where she would normally would attend to any of the tribe's daily needs. However, the redheaded woman was currently absent, replaced by her husband - Jellal, if Gray remembered right, by the older man's side.

"I don't believe you and the woman have made a right choice for my placement here," Gray said confidently, standing his ground in front of the two men.

"From what I understand, Makarov has made it clear that you were the tribe's best hunter, even compared to Gajeel and Natsu, and they've hunted with Juvia before during the winter," Jellal raised a brow. "My wife and your chief were pretty sure you would have made a better fit when you arrived."

"Well, no one said anything about sabertooth tigers," Gray snorted bitterly.

Jellal narrowed his eyes and Makarov was quick to interject. "You must pardon Gray, he isn't looking to insult anyone. He is a sort to be quite stubborn and think before he speaks."

"Much like Natsu, I suppose," Jellal sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Still, I don't think there is a problem with the matchup my wife and your own chief has made."

"She's hard to get along with."

"Juvia, or her mother?" Jellal asked and Makarov seem to come to a realization of some sort, as a smirk seem to emerge under his mustache.

"I think I see the problem," Makarov chuckled from his spot on the mat beside the muscular, blue-haired man. Glancing to the chieftess' man, the old man grinned. "You see, Gray here is a bit...unnerved by women, and he is definitely unnerved by women who can actually put him in his place."

"I'm _not_ -!"

"I can only suspect you attempted to do something during a hunt," Jellal said pointedly to the dark haired man. Without needing a verbal answer, just by seeing Gray's body language, he nodded at the confirmation. "You must understand something, Gray, that you are now living in one place throughout the year, therefore we go by slightly different rules when it comes to hunting."

"Look, I get that and all, but -"

"And we depend on Juvia and her family to help us survive," Jellal continued. "If you look at it from _our_ point of view, they know more about surviving better than any of us."

Gray made a face and Makarov chuckled lightly. Looking to the man assisting in his wife's spot, the old man pressed his wrinkled hand to his elbow. "Jellal, will you please excuse us and allow us to speak privately? If it is not too rash of me to ask."

Jellal shook his head and rose from his spot. Passing by him, Gray didn't miss how the blue haired man gave him a sharp look before leaving the hut, and the voice of Asuka's happy squeal echoed in the back. Makarov waved a hand for Gray to come closer, and he followed the order and took a seat on his knees infront of the chief's mat, his head bowed.

"When Lady Erza and I were going over who to put where, we came across how fitting we think you and young Juvia are," Makarov spoke and ignored how Gray snorted in disbelief. "Like you, Juvia is rather strong and very protective of those she provides for, and isn't afraid easily."

Gray didn't look up to Makarov until he spoke the next confession. "Juvia, also, was _found_."

Looking to the old man, Gray watched as Makarov shrugged. "Minus the tigers, of course, Lady Erza confided to me that Juvia was found without any human parents, and that the tigers have raised her."

"That's impossible…"

"Well, it is not my story to tell, but the way Juvia has survived from such a young age, you must understand how extraordinary that is to our survival," Makarov rubbed his bald spot. "I'm sure whatever it is you did to have you become irritated with you, she will forgive you."

"I...attempted to hunt a mother elk," he confessed in a quiet voice. "She told me, if I killed the mother and the baby didn't survive, it would make it difficult for us to find meat. That we would hunt the mother after its child can survive on its own."

"If you think about it, you know she's right, my boy."

"Yes, Master Makarov."

"Are you still thinking that Lady Erza and I had made the wrong choice for you?" the elderly man asked next, and Gray closed his eyes as he stood up to his feet and turned away.

"I will see you at the fire tonight," was all he said.

He found her watching over Asuka and another small child playing with the tigers. Climbing over the tigers lying on their sides and petting their large ears, the huge cats didn't pay any mind of the children practically pestering their naptime. For Gray, it was a sight of something he didn't think was anywhere near possible, and he was impressed by how careful they seem to be around the small humans, let alone for their parents allowing them near.

Juvia was sitting on the grass a few feet away from the children, splayed with her hands supporting her weight and ankles crossed. Mother was curled beside her, asleep, with her ear twitching every once in a while as Gray approached. Some of the female sabertooths had cubs with them, but kept them far away enough from the human children to keep it safe (since the cubs were, as of now, _teething_ ).

The outcome of the hunt from this morning wasn't a complete fail; they had succeeded to finally hunt a rather large male elk, three rabbits, and a buffalo (that had to be brought back in parts). Gray managed to take the elk, but he wasn't expecting to come towards a bison on the way back, yet Mother seemed determined to bring it down with four of Juvia's siblings. So, really, it wasn't that bad of a hunt after their little talk in the beginning…

Still, he had to do it.

She saw him coming and frowned, and Gray felt a twist in his chest at how unhappy she looked. He didn't like it. Still, he came to her side and knelt down on his knees.

"Hey," he said after clearing his throat.

Juvia blinked and tilt her head when he slipped to his bottom, crossing his legs. "I want to apologize for what happened earlier today. I shouldn't have questioned you while you're teaching me how to live on your land, and I apologize."

"Gray-sama is saying sorry?" she asked, her eyes narrowing in curiousity.

Remembering how some words confused her, making sense of her speech pattern, Gray felt his face reddening for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah, I am. I'm sorry, Juvia, and I won't do that again."

Juvia tilt her head to the other side, looking him over to see any signs of him lying to her, he knew. After a moment, when Mother shook herself awake and laid her head on Juvia's lap, the woman smiled and rubbed Mother's pierced ear. "Juvia accepts Gray-sama's sorry," she told him.

Gray let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, nodding with a small half-grin on his face. "Ah...great! That's really great! Then, okay, then I'll see you later, at the fire...right?"

"Juvia goes every night, as does Gray-sama."

"Right." Rubbing the back of his neck, Gray caught the eyesight of Mother staring right at him. Thinking he was probably too close to her 'child' after what happened, Gray stood up and waved his hand to Juvia in a goodbye, leaving the two alone once more.

Juvia watched him teeter away quickly before smiling, looking down to Mother and scratching under her chin. Mother, in return, let out a soft groan before cuddling her large head further on the woman's lap. Juvia watched carefully as Asuka tripped and rolled to her back, startling one of the sabertooth tigers to check on her. Asuka giggled when one of them sniffed her belly, tickling her with their nose, before licking her face to get her smiling again.

Juvia smiled and lightly touched one of Mother's dangling earrings with her pinky finger, making the tiger groan and blink slowly. "What does Mother think of him now?"

Mother snorted and Juvia rolled her eyes. "Oh, Mother."

=xxx=

A routine eventually came to life for Gray's life; getting dragged out of his tiny hole by one of the sabertooth tigers at the early mornings, going hunting on his own feet with the herd for a good few hours and assist carrying the meat back, then having to train with the tigers and learning how to get alone with them.

 _Trying_ is the best term to put it.

"Okay, fella," Gray said as he slowly approached one of the tigers with spots along its back. It yawned and glanced to the man before resting its head down on the grass in the field of the caves and Juvia's home. Gray held still for a moment before taking another few steps, reaching his hand out carefully to let the tiger know he was there. "We're going to try this now...so, you know, don't get mad at me."

Majority of the large-toothed tigers have began to take a liking to Gray, minus Mother and Father, but Gray didn't mind that as much. Considering how much bigger and more fierce they were to him, he didn't bother trying to make nice conversations with the two alphas, and stuck to the lower ranked ones instead. Juvia, too, told Gray that it would be a safer idea to focus more with her brothers and sisters, since they listened to her more and saw her above them. Most of the time, Gray thinks they like him just because they get the chance to rip his pants off all the time and push him round.

Resting his hand on top of the tiger's head, Gray waited as it made a rough, purring noise. When it remained still, the man slowly lift his leg over the other side of its large mass, both feet remaining on the ground as he hovered above it. "Good. This is good so far, we're friends…"

Gray slowly sat down on the sabertooth's back, just like how Juvia taught him multiple times by showing him, and held onto the scruff of the fur. The tiger made a noise, and rolled over to its side, taking Gray along with it. It ended up with both of them landing on the grass and Gray's leg trapped underneath the heavy animal.

"You can't be serious. Really?" Gray groaned with a scowl as he began tugging himself free. It didn't take long for the lazy tiger to roll back up and stand on all fours, making him roll backwards as the animal strolled away. "Oh, come on!"

"It looks like you're doing some extra training without Juvia, I see."

Looking up, Gray saw the chieftess approaching the field with Father following beside her. From what Gray learned, Father was the one carrying Erza at the attack of the old camp, and is rather fond of the woman and her husband equally. Father rarely took part in hunting, as it seemed to be Mother's favorable task, while he stayed behind majority of the time and stalk around the village as a guard. Jellal and Erza both spoil the alpha male with attention and sometimes with dried meat (which always ends up with Mother growling at him whenever they reunite).

Gray got to his knees before the woman and bowed his head, a way he was suppose to address the woman chief whenever she comes by. Gray stiffened when Father sniffed at his bowed head, only for him to release a hot breath and walk around him. "It seems that Father is taking a liking to you, too," Erza smiled.

Cautiously raising his head, seeing Father continue his way over to Juvia's hut, where Mother was currently napping, and flop on his side. "I don't know how you would think that…"

"If Father didn't like you, he'd push you over or growl at you," Erza pointed out as he stood up before her. "It looks like you're really getting close to your new hunting team. I'm impressed."

"Yeah," Gray agreed sarcastically. "Unable to ride one of the sabertooth tigers, still getting bitched at whenever I'm too close to Juvia's hut whenever she's in it, or the caves; getting tackled by those cubs and all that, yeah, I'm living the life of one of the tigers!"

Erza sniffed, yet her smile remained. "Still, it is good to see you trying. I was worried for a bit, after what Jellal and Makarov had told me about your encounter at my tent a few weeks ago.."

"You...heard about that."

The woman frowned and gave him a hard stare. "Of course I have. My husband doesn't keep anything from me, and your chief and I are on equal terms of this tribe, may I remind you. However, when I heard from my husband that you were speaking a bit out of line, I grew concerned about Juvia."

"Look, I apologized to her, and I'm doing my best to try and make it up to her by learning how to hunt _their_ way -" Gray gestured to the cubs emerging out of one of the caves with the mother ushering them "- but it doesn't seem good enough for them. But I haven't treated Juvia bad."

"I know you haven't, and I've noticed that quite well," Erza smirked.

"Lady Erza!"

Erza turned her head to smile at the blue haired woman carrying a weaved basket. "Juvia, there you are. How are you today, my dear?"

Juvia came to the two and grinned brightly. "Juvia is good! Juvia brought some stuff for the babies to start learning with," she explained while the cries of the cubs began to emerge at the sight of her. Pulling out a couple of dried grass in the form of a weaved ball, Juvia began tossing them towards the animals and, in a instant, the cubs began to tackle them in numbers.

"Learning what?" Gray asked, genuinely interested as his partner threw a couple more. He reached into the basket and pulled one out, tugging on one of the loose blades of dry grass.

"Hunting!" Juvia cheered as a cub approached her and she waved the ball in front of it. The cub made a whiney yowl before she tossed it and it ran after the ball. "Juvia learned just like this when she was very little, too, but with whatever we caught. This will keep the babies from getting to our meats!"

"Very good, Juvia," Erza praised motherly as she pet the top of the woman's hat, and Juvia posed a giddy smile before excusing herself to go play with the cubs. The redheaded woman watched Gray carefully as his eyes followed Juvia, and the tiger cubs noticed her and began to become more active.

"You must understand something Gray," Erza spoke soft enough so the other woman couldn't hear in the distance. Gray looked back her way with a curious raise of his brow as the chieftess kept her sights - almost sadly - while Juvia attempted to pull the weaved ball from the cub's mouth in a playful fight. "When my grandmother found Juvia as a young child, it was winter, and then she and the rest of our tribe discovered how she managed to survive alongside with the tigers without being killed by them. Consider it the impossible, but we sought it as a sort of miracle to see a human withstand all the seasons by becoming one with the wild.

"Juvia could rarely speak a word, and it took a while before she could actually come towards us without Mother or Father by her side. For a while, it didn't seem that she herself didn't believe she was like us either, but she could see that she was in more ways than one," Erza said. "It was Juvia who got her family to see that we were like her, too: Creatures just wanting to survive, and thus we begun a unique relationship."

A lone cub wobbled itself to Erza's feet, plopping to its fat belly and reach a paw to her exposed toes curiously. Erza smiled to it, not minding the tiny pricks of the claws. "After a while of communicating with Juvia from a distance, and gaining Mother and Father's trust, we learned that Juvia's own tribe was wiped out while she was so young by a rogue group of humans...and it was only when these tigers came and considered her as one of their own.

"Makarov confided to me that you too also lost valuable people in your life, and was taken in by Tail as one of their own, is that right?" Erza asked rather daringly to the young man, who bit his lip and looked away. "The only thing that makes you so _stubborn_ and wishing, at first, to be moved from your position was because you lack trust in those you meet - just like Juvia was once when we first met her and her completely different family."

The cub then yowled up at Gray, who silently knelt down and grabbed the baby's head in a playful move. Being so used to be chewed on and scratched, Gray didn't mind when the tiger cub grabbed his wrist and rubbed his growing enlarged canine against his knuckles. "I guess survival is just different with each tribe."

Erza nodded. "So now you can see why your chief and I sought this as the best fit for you and my dear Juvia as well. We want to grow as a tribe, but also support and comfort those who have similarities."

"Juvia doesn't know about my…"

"Of course not," Erza answered, instantly calming him. "Having spent so many years and watching Juvia grow up and learn, I know better than to try and push so much onto her when it's not my place. That's only for you to decide where you want to take your bond with her."

Gray made a noise, a mixture of confusion and slight irritation. What was it with people and him wanting to try and bond with Juvia?

The chieftess waved her hand dismissively. "What I mean is that you and Juvia can get along with your differences and your similarities. I personally would like Juvia to have another human companion, and I honestly feel that you make a perfect fit. I won't ask for anything else from you personally, just something to ensure Juvia can feel happy with _both forms_ of her tribe. Can you do that?"

Looking over his shoulder, Gray stole a glance to see Juvia lifting a cub with both arms, a weaved ball caught in its mouth as she cradled it like a baby and rubbed its round belly, kissing its face. A comfortable warmth swelled in his stomach, similar to all the times he would feel the same sensation whenever Juvia laughed at something he would try to do and the tigers would growl at him; same whenever he thought of her smile while trying to sleep in his tiny cave-bed, seeing her sharing a meal with Mother and Father with the rest of the tribe at the fires, or when she's in her stance to throw her spear at a prey.

She had an unexplainable way of making Gray feel _good_. Feeling good in a way of waking up early in the morning and spending hours looking for food, digging up roots and picking berries making worth his time. Getting to practice trying to ride a tiger before getting sat on by the giant cats or pawed at before being groomed by sharp tongues; it never failed to have Gray see how patient and kind Juvia is, but also slip a laugh or two when he would mess up or react to the tigers in fright of getting bitten.

Still, he finds himself learning new plants and roots to eat that taste pretty good; he has better stamina, now that he runs with the tigers and has to keep up with the massive strength of carrying game. Gray also has learned how to track so much better and know his surroundings from her pointing out specific hints and hidden treasures to bring them home. He's actually smiled more from watching the cubs get into fights or chase Natsu down whenever he was chewing on something - he laughed when Gajeel was pulled into a dance by a tiny, short blue-haired woman and Asuka cut in to dance with him, too, only because Juvia told him that they have to attend the fire gathering every night.

He's been happy, and he only has Juvia to blame in a good way.

"Yeah, I'll do that."

.

.

.

=xxx=

AUTHOR'S ENDING NOTE - I might continue this with more plot, but I'm not too sure. I promised this 'round a year ago, so I had to publish it or I would have gone insane. Hope you enjoyed!


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